Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones
by MissMadi
Summary: Many years since the world has been saved, a mysterious crime baffles the wizarding community.  It forces them to realize that evil has not completely died and that the only way to save the world is to fuse two together.
1. Chapter 1

_Harry Potter and The Charmed Ones_

Chapter 1

**-Harry-**

I am a normal man.

Well, save for the fact that I am sitting in an office filled with newspapers containing moving pictures, a large spinning top and a mirror that did not show my reflection sitting on my desk, stacks of letters written in different colored inks littered about my desk and floor, and four balls of light rotating in a circle near the ceiling. Yes, aside from all this, and the fact that I once defeated the darkest and most evil wizard of all time, I am fairly normal. I am a normal man, working in an office, and I have a wife and three kids waiting for me at home.

After all these years, I am finally normal.

The door to my office nudged open and my best friend, brother-in-law, and fellow Auror shuffled in.

"Harry, it's one in the morning," Ron Weasley said, stifling a yawn and clutching a steaming styrofoam cup of coffee. "Can't we go home?"

"This paperwork has to be done by eight," I responded, "and we're ages behind. I told you the mid-day chess competition was a bad idea."

Ron groaned and sat himself down at his desk, which was across the room from and facing mine. "Come on, Harry, you're head of the department."

Chuckling, I dipped my quill into my ink bottle. "I can't just do whatever I please, Ron."

Ron scowled. "If I'd known being an Auror required _paperwork_, I'd've thought twice about becoming one." He eyed the large stack of paper on his desk wearily. "I feel like I'm back at Hogwarts. Only now I can't copy from Hermione." He sighed begrudgingly and dipped his own quill into his ink bottle.

"Speaking of Hermione," I said, "Ginny wants to have the family over on Friday. Are you guys free?"

Ron shrugged, yawning again. "I dunno. Probably. Have Ginny owl Hermione." He signed a couple forms and then gave his cramping hand a break. "Why does Ginny want to have everyone over? Don't we see enough of each other already?"

I laughed and glanced up at Ron. I noted that my own stack of paperwork was much smaller than that of my friend's, and I was very grateful that I am not as big a procrastinator as Ron. "She picked up a new recipe," I explained. "She can't wait to test it out on everyone."

Ron looked up nervously. "Why does she need the whole family for that? You're her husband; it's your job to eat her cooking before everyone else to see if it's deadly." He heaved another great sigh as he returned to his mound of paperwork. "It would be a real shame if the whole Weasley-Potter family was wiped out in one night... maybe I'll send Rose off to her friend's house for the night, so _someone_ will be able to carry on the family line."

I only had time to laugh and exclaim, "Come off it!" before our office door was opened again. A fellow Auror, Artie Davies, stepped inside, holding a thick manila folder.

"Bloody hell, not more!" Ron groaned in frustration, throwing down his quill in irritation.

Davies grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. This is really important. But it's not more paperwork."

"Couldn't it have been really important eight hours ago?" Ron whined. "Or _in_ eight hours?"

I glared at Ron, who had an obvious tendency to complain when he was tired. "Sorry," Davies said again. "I've been investigating this all day. I think you need to see it." He took a seat in front of my desk and held out the file. I took it, and Ron stood up and walked over to look over my shoulder.

I opened the file and picked up the first article that was piled in it – a picture. "What is this?" I asked. The photo showed a woman, laying dead, in her living room. She had a large, bloody wound on the side of her abdomen, her eyes were open, her wand was lying next to her, and there were black scorch marks on the off-white wall behind her.

"That's Miss Agatha Puggle," Davies supplied. "She was killed this morning."

"What?" I exclaimed. "By whom? Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"I was the Auror present at the scene," Davies said. "I was going to report it back to you, but I noticed some strange things about it. You see her wound?" He pointed, his finger hovering over the photograph of the gruesome injury. "That wasn't inflicted by a wand. However, it _was_ done by magic."

"How do you know?" inquired Ron.

"I used Priori Incantatem," Davies explained. "She used a shield charm right before she died."

"And no Muggle weapon can penetrate a shield charm," I mused.

Davies nodded. "She must've been killed by magic. Not only was her shield charm broken, but the killer did not touch her. She was murdered at a distance. Also, her body was thrown against the wall. And see the scorch marks?"

I put my hand to my temple; my head was starting to throb. "This doesn't make any sense." I looked up at Ron. "If she wasn't killed by a wand, or by a Muggle weapon, how _was_ she killed?"

Ron bit his lip, and his eyes darted about the room as he thought. Finally, he said slowly, "Is it possible this is a new spell? Maybe some Dark Wizard invented it."

Harry pondered this suggestion for a few seconds, and then shook my head. "No, I don't think so. What would be the point? There's already Avada Kedavra and Sectumsempra."

"Could _this_ be Sectumsempra?" Ron asked quickly.

"No," I said. "Sectumsempra cuts the victim and this wound is more... round, like a gunshot wound." Ignoring Ron's perplexed glance – no doubt he forgot what he had learned about Muggle weaponry – I added, "Plus, the scorch marks make no sense."

"Is it possible that a Dark Wizard invented a new spell," Davies asked, "so they wouldn't be detected? So they could easily hide themselves?"

I shook my head again. "No. If they killed using a new spell, it would actually be easier to track them down. If they used an already widely known spell, it would be harder to track, because then anyone could've cast it."

Ron glanced up at Davies. "Why was she killed? Was anything stole, or was it just random?"

Davies leaned forward and grabbed the file, flicking through the papers before pulling out another photograph. "Puggle collected rare, spiritual knives. One was missing from a spot labeled 'Athame.'"

Ron snorted. "What bloke was idiotic enough to steal from a labeled cabinet?"

"An athame?" I pondered, ignoring Ron and picking up the picture. I studied it closely.

"What _is_ an athame?" asked Ron in confusion.

"Muggles have their own views on what magic is," I explained, my eyes not moving from the picture. "An athame is a ritualistic knife, according to their beliefs."

Ron snorted. "Their bogus beliefs."

I didn't reply right away. I ran my hand over the picture, my brow furrowed. A witch was murdered under bizarre circumstances and the killer stole a knife generally associated with a type of magic all wizards laughed off as preposterous. "Maybe not..." I contemplated.

Ron whipped his head down to stare at me. "What? You're not serious?"

"Think about it, Ron," I said. "Agatha was killed by magic, but we can't figure out how. Isn't it possible that there is another type of magic out there?"

Ron gaped at me. His eyes flickered at Davies, whose expression was unreadable. "Harry, if there was more magic out there, wouldn't we know about it?"

I shook my head, my heart racing at this sudden revelation. I knew I was on to something, I just knew it. "Not necessarily." I jumped and hurriedly put on my robe. "Come on. We're going to find someone who does."

Ron returned to his desk and grabbed his own robe and briefcase. However, he still looked skeptical. "If no one knows about it," he said, "then where are we going?"

"Just because most people don't know doesn't mean no one does." I placed the photographs back inside the folder. "You can go now, Davies. Thanks for the great work."

"What about the paperwork, Harry?" Ron questioned, following me out of the office.

"That's been put on hold," I said. "This is more important."

"Alright!"

We jogged out of their office and through the Auror department offices. Nearly half of the floor workers were still there; it was a very late night for many Ministry workers. I could only hope that the man I was looking for was still in. We entered the lifts along with five floating paper airplanes, and rode silently up to the top floor. Ron was bouncing on the balls of his feet impatiently.

The lift opened and I rushed out, with Ron hot on my heels. We zipped through the hallway, down one corridor, until they reached a door labeled "Minister of Magic – Kingsley Shackelbolt." I raised my hand and knocked, loudly, three times on the pine wood door.

"Please be in," I muttered, my fingers crossed in the pocket of my robe.

Ron and I waited for about twenty seconds, although it felt like twenty minutes, until the door flew open and Kingsley's face appeared in the threshold. "Harry! Ron!" he said, smiling. "What brings you here so late in the evening?"

"Kingsley, we have something very important to talk to you about," I said seriously. Kingsley's smile flickered.

"Come on in." He stepped back so Ron and I could enter. His office was similar to ours; it was filled with high-end Dark Detectors and papers and letters strewn about his desk and floor. "Excuse the mess," he said apologetically. "The last few days have been fairly busy and I haven't had time to tidy up."

"S'okay," said Ron. He and I sat down in the two velvet armchairs in front of Kingley's desk as Kingsley sat down behind it.

Kingsley brushed some paper to the side of his desk and rested his hands on top of it. "What seems to be the problem?"

I removed the photograph of Agatha Puggle's body from the file and set it down, with more force that I had intended. "This witch was murdered this morning," I explained shortly. "I want you to tell me how."

Kingsley sent a confused look at me. "Isn't that your job?"

I met his stare. "Just tell me."

Sighing, Kingsley picked up the picture and held it up to study. The longer he looked at it, the deeper his frown and more creased his forehead became. His eyes narrowed as they darted across all parts of the picture.

"So?" I demanded.

Kingsley exhaled. "Harry, I -"

"There's more magic out there, isn't there?" I asked defiantly. "Someone magical killed Agatha Puggle, but they didn't use a wand, and they stole an athame. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Kinglsey stood up and kneaded his forehead with his fingers. He looked very distressed and overwhelmed and I would have felt bad were I not so anxious for answers. "Kingsley, in order for me to able to find whoever murdered her, I need to know who did it and how. I know you know."

The Minister breathed in deeply through his nose. "You want to know? Okay. Yes, there is another type of magic out there, one very different from wand magic."

"Really!" yelped Ron. "Wicked! How do you use it?"

"You can't," said Kingsley. "Like our magic, theirs can't be learned, only inherited."

I frowned. "So Agatha was killed by... one of these other magic wizards?"

"It's a long story," Kingsley said tiredly, sitting back down in his armchair.

Sitting up straighter, I said, "You have to tell us. I can't protect the wizarding community if I don't know."

Kingsley laced his fingers together and rested his hands on top of the desk, leaning forward slightly. "Okay," he relented, "but first you must know that only a handful of people know about both magical worlds. All Ministers of Magic, previous and current, know, and they have people in their world called Elders. Fewer than thirty people in the entire world know about both. "

"And you're adding two more to the list," Ron said excitedly.

"Right now," Kinglsey said. "Although the fact that the worlds seem to be mixing right now, I think many, many more people will be finding out in due time."

"Care to explain?" I asked, somewhat impatiently. I was annoyed with Kingsley putting off elaborating for as long as possible.

Kingsley paused for a few seconds before beginning. "This other type of magic has been around just as long as ours, give or take a few hundred years. Both our types of magic have traditional aspects to them. Since we've grown up and lived with our type of magic for so long, we don't really see it. But waving wands and flying on broomsticks are very stereotypical when it comes to Muggle views on magic."

"What are the stereotypes of the... other type?" Ron asked.

"Well," Kingsley responded, "they say spells, except they don't just say a word or two and flick a wand. They say a spell by saying an incantation, complete with rhyming words. They light candles and use incense."

Ron snorted. "They say poems?"

Kingsley smiled slightly. "We wave around a stick of wood." Ron, taken aback, gaped at the Minister. He continued, "Their magic can only be inherited and not learned, like ours. But there are advantages and disadvantages to both types. They are born with a specific power – like telekinesis, for example – and that's the only type of magic they will be able to use for their whole lives. Their powers may grow and expand, but a telekinetic witch would not be able to, say, fly, without saying a spell. With us, we have the resources to perform all spells; it's just the ability to do them that sets us apart from each other. Their magic is also tied to things like planetary alignments and ritualistic ceremonies. Athames are laughed off by our wizarding community, but they're very much valuable for the other type of magic."

"Does this other type of magic have a name?" I asked. "Does _our_ type of magic have a name?"

"Not formally," Kingsley said, "but they're normally referred to as wand and wandless magic by the Ministers."

"So, why are the wandless magic folks attacking us now?" I questioned, frowning. "Whoever killed Agatha knew she was a witch. He broke through her shield charm and stole her athame, which he must've known she owned."

Kingsley leaned against his desk, his arms folded across his chest. "Just like with wand magic, there is evil in the wandless magic community as well. There are witches, who fight evil and protect innocent Muggles, and then there are demons and warlocks, who, like dark wizards, want to rule the world and kill good witches and Muggles. Due to the scorch marks, I believe a demon killed Agatha."

"Demons?" Ron said skeptically. "You're not joking?"

I hissed at Ron to be quiet. "Can we capture demons and put them in Azkaban or something?"

Kingsley shook his head. "Since our magic is different, all protection spells on Azkaban, the Ministry, and Hogwarts are immune to demons and warlocks. They don't apparate; they have their own means of transportation."

"So, we're not safe," Ron said nervously.

"I don't think the demons are really _after_ us, as a community," Kingsley mused. "There has been no indication of it. And I don't know how much they know about us. But they're up to something. We shouldn't worry about Hogwarts or the Ministry being attacked, not yet."

"Is there _any_ way for us to ward off these... demons?" Ron inquired. "Like, curse them or something?"

"Demons aren't human," Kingsley explained, "so the only way to stop them is to kill them. Well, 'vanquish' is the term used more often by wandless witches."

Ron and I blinked. "Kill?"

"They're not human," Kingsley repeated.

"How do we, erm, vanquish these demons?" I asked.

Kingsley sighed. "I don't know."

Ron and I glanced at each other, frowning. We had found out what killed Agatha, but we were no closer to figuring out how to prevent any future murders.

Kingsley began speaking again, "Demons have different levels of power. There are lower-level demons, upper-level demons, and everything in between. Most witches can defeat lower-level demons, and, from what I know about demons, I believe most wizards and witches here could at least restrain a lower-level demon. But until we figure out a way for wand magic to vanquish demons, we really won't be able to protect ourselves."

I sighed and put my hand on my forehead. Ron voiced my greatest concern, "What about upper-level demons?"

"Only very few magical beings can fight off an upper-level demon. Dumbledore, for one, could have, although he never had to go up against one. You two may be able to, as well as some other powerful wizards, but you won't be able to do more than match his power. You can't kill it – not without performing an Unforgiveable Curse."

"So what are we going to do?" Ron asked, gripping the arms of his chair.

Kingsley stood up again and leaned against the side of his desk. "There are three wandless magic witches called The Charmed Ones. Together they are the three most powerful witches in the world, and they have vanquished numerous upper-level demons and some of the greatest evils that could rival that of Lord Voldemort's. Their children are incredibly powerful witches as well. If anyone can help us... it's them."

"The Charmed Ones?" Ron said slowly. "That term sounds familiar."

I turned and stared at Ron. "You've heard of them?"

Ron shrugged, frowning. "I dunno. I think I've just heard the name before."

"The Charmed Ones are famous in their own magical world and, to those of us who know who they are, we appreciate all the good they've done in the world. And not just their world, but for the _whole_ world," Kingsley said. "They've been mentioned in a couple of books before, mostly for Potions they've created. It's always just in passing, though. It'll say something like, 'The potion to lure an evil spirit, invented by The Charmed Ones.' It's never elaborated upon."

Ron nodded. "That's probably where I've heard it. Hermione has so many bloody books lying around the house. After twenty years, I'm bound to pick up a couple."

"Should we get in touch with The Charmed Ones?" I asked instantly. "Who are they? Where do they live?"

"They're in America," Kingsley informed them. "San Francisco, to be exact. Their names are Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell. I plan on sending them an owl in the morning." He checked the clock on his wall, and concluded, "Well boys, it's nearly two in the morning. I'm sure your wives will be wanting you home."

Ron and I nodded and stood up. We shook hands with Kingsley and thanked him for all the information he provided, before stepping out of the office and slowly walking toward the lift.

"My head is spinning," Ron admitted. "I just can't believe…" He trailed off.

"Me either," I mused at the unfinished thought, although I was perhaps less stunned than Ron was. Since I did not grow up knowing I was a wizard, the possibility of there being more magic out there that I didn't know about was less implausible as it was to Ron. I grew up learning about new aspects to the magical community every time I turned around, so realizing that there is even more isn't too shocking. For Ron, though, who knew about everything since he was born, this must be quite a surprise.

Ron and I reached the lift and got inside. The Ministry was nearly empty now; there were no paper airplanes floating inside the lift. The two of us were silent the entire way down to the Atrium, until we reached the fireplaces for Flooing.

"D'you think Hermione would know anything about The Charmed Ones?" I asked Ron.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno. She reads a hell of a lot, so she might. Why?"

Grinning sheepishly, I asked, "Would she be pissed if I wanted to ask her about them right now?"

"Eh, probably," Ron said nonchalantly. "But hey, she's always pissed at something." He grabbed some Floo powder. "Let's go."

He threw the powder into the fire; it glowed green, he stepped inside, and said, "Weasley Manor!" As soon as he vanished, I threw some in and followed suit.

When I popped up in Ron and Hermione's living room, it was pitch black. Ron was dusting himself off as I stepped out of the fireplace. "Good trip?" he said in a low voice.

"Oh, it always is," I said sardonically, brushing soot off my robes.

A light in the hallway turned on and Hermione bustled into the room. "Ron! It is two in the morning. What're you -" She stopped short at the sight of me. "Oh. Harry. What are you doing here?"

"Sorry to just burst in like this so early the morning," I said, while Ron turned the light on in the living room, "but I have a question for you."

"Don't worry, Harry, you're family!" Hermione smiled, and then did a complete one-eighty, rounding on Ron and glaring at him. "_You_, on the other hand, have to answer to the kids tomorrow. I told them they could stay up until you got home, but they fell asleep on the couch at 12:30 while waiting! When they wake up, there will be hell to pay, and I will not take the blame!" Though she was so heated, she managed to keep her voice at a whisper.

"Sure thing, Hermione," Ron said, putting his arm around his wife and leading her to the couch.

I sat down in an armchair and wasted no time. "Do you know who The Charmed Ones are?"

"Kind of," Hermione said, her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"What do you know about them?"

She shrugged. "Not much. There was a story about them in one of Rose and Hugo's children's books. It basically said something about three witches who practiced wandless magic being prophesied about and saving the world. I don't know if they're real or not, but people that go by the name of The Charmed Ones have invented a ton of potions, although most of them aren't allowed in Hogwarts."

"Why not?" Ron asked, linking eyes with me.

"Well, they're pretty gruesome, some of them," she explained. "There's one to stop the heart. Most of them, though, are about killing, which is forbidden, of course."

"Killing? Like demons?" I asked.

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Demons? What?"

I jumped up again and took out my wand. "Hermione, can you owl Ginny?"

"Why?" Hermione eyed the wand in my hand. "What are you doing, Harry?"

While adjusting my robes, I responded, "I'm gonna go visit The Charmed Ones."

Ron and Hermione were on their feet within seconds, in one swift motion. "You're _what_!" Ron gaped, and Hermione dove right into one of her ever so familiar lectures that have not changed since Hogwarts. "Harry, it's just a fairytale -"

"No, it isn't," I said. "I'm sorry Hermione, we'll explain it to you later, but Kingsley told us that they're real."

"But – you can't!" she continued to protest. "How are you going to find them? And what are you going to say?"

"I know that they live in San Francisco, and what their names are," I explained patiently. "I'll find them. And I'll just explain to them the situation."

"You mean, 'one of your kind killed one of my kind?'" Ron said with mild sarcasm.

"What are you talking about!" cried Hermione.

"There's no time to explain, Hermione, I've got to go," I said.

She glared. "Harry, this is an awful idea!" She spun around to face her husband. "What do you think, Ron?"

I rolled my eyes. Hermione had started using this tactic ever since she and Ron got together. Whenever she was in a fight with someone, she would pull Ron into the middle of it and demand that he give an opinion.

"Um..." Ron looked shiftily back and forth between me and Hermione. "Harry, Kingsley _did_ say that he was gonna owl them in the morning."

"That's not soon enough," I said shortly. "Ron, you don't have to come with me, but I'm going now."

Ron faced Hermione. She raised her eyebrows, as if challenging him, and folded her arms across her chest. He stared at her for about half a minute, and then exhaled. "I have to go with him."

"You _what_!" she sputtered, her eyes widening in shock. "Ron, this is ridiculous, you _can't_ -"

"He's gonna go anyway, Hermione," Ron tried to explain, placing his hands on her shoulders, "so I might as well go with him. To keep him out of trouble, right?" He grinned expectantly.

Hermione frowned in defeat, saying silent for a few seconds. "Fine." She bit her lip and shot a look at me. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks, Hermione." I smiled gratefully at my long-time friend.

"I still think it's a bad idea," Hermione warned. "But you're Head of the Auror department, so there's really nothing I can do to stop you." She smiled lightly. "I can't threaten you with house points or detention anymore." She yawned and checked the clock on the wall. "I'll Floo over to Ginny's quickly and let her know what's going on." Kissing Ron on the cheek, she said, "Try not to be home _too_ late. And maybe tomorrow you can stay home since you've been working for, oh, twenty hours?"

"Twenty hours already?" Ron said grumpily. "Wow, I wasn't even feeling the least bit drowsy."

"Come on, Ron, let's go." I checked my watch, the same one Molly had given me for my seventeenth birthday. "It should be around 6:30 in the afternoon there."

Hermione stood back for them to Apparate. "Bye. Be careful!"

I smiled. "Don't worry. We always are."

**-Piper-**

The Halliwell Manor has never been a quiet house. Even before my sisters and I received our powers, three little girls running around the house never called for a quiet home. Then we were rebellious teenagers, and once we grew up, we fought all the time. The fighting ceased and the demon attacks started. The demon attacks ended and we all had kids. It was a never-ending cycle, and the walls of the poor house would never be without constant noise.

This particular Monday night was no exception. Even though Phoebe and Paige no longer lived at the Manor, they came over for dinner often. Three married couples and nine children running around was enough for the house to nearly collapse into its foundation.

"For the last freakin' time!" I shouted out of the door to the kitchen. "If you kids cannot be quiet, I will freeze you!"

"You can't freeze good witches!" a chorus of cries floated in from the conservatory.

I groaned in frustration. "Why did we have to teach them all the rules of witchcraft?" I complained to my two sisters. "Would it have been _so wrong_ as to let them believe that I could freeze them or blow them up or something? At least it wouldn't be an empty threat."

"Piper," Phoebe said in slight surprise, laughing.

"What? My patience is running THIS thin." I held up my index finger and thumb; they were nearly touching. The oven began to beep loudly and I gasped. "The roast!"

Leo laughed. "Piper, _relax_."

Coop and Henry Mitchell turned to their respective wives. "What's wrong with her?" Coop murmured.

Before Phoebe could answer, I exclaimed, "I'm sorry, but I _can't_ relax. I've had this feeling for the last few days that something bad is gonna happen and I just can't get it out of my head."

"What do you mean?" Paige asked.

"I don't know," I sighed. "I just have a bad feeling, like... a demon is gonna attack or something."

"Piper," said Phoebe soothingly, placing her hands over mine. "We haven't had to fight any demons in nearly fifteen years. They're not gonna start up again now."

"I know, I know," I said, frowning. "But still. I don't feel right."

Their talk was interrupted by my two sons, Wyatt and Chris, striding into the kitchen. Wyatt was chewing on a handful of peanuts and Chris's eyes immediately scanned the counters. "Is dinner ready yet?" Chris asked hopefully.

"Not yet, sweetie. Another half hour," I said.

"Hey Wyatt, Chris, whatcha guys doing?" Paige's son, Henry Jr., asked, striding into the kitchen. Henry was eleven, very smart for his age, and completely enamored with his older cousins.

"Nothing, just checking on dinner." Wyatt and Chris exchanged glances. The two boys, though twenty-one months apart, were best friends. Like all brothers, they tended to fight, but most of the time they got along great. And one of their agreements was that, even though they loved their cousin, he followed them so loyally that it often reached a peak of annoyance.

"Did someone say DINNER!" a shriek came from the conservatory.

"Oh, no..." Paige groaned.

A stampede of feet pounded through the house as six little girls raced to the kitchen.

"Where's the food!" cried Melinda, my youngest child.

"Dinner is not ready yet," I said slowly and loudly. I began to feel very claustrophobic. My kitchen is a good size, but it was not built to accommodate fifteen people. "Everyone, out."

"Mommy, when's dinner?" seven-year-old Penny Halliwell asked her mother.

Phoebe bent down to her youngest daughter's height and said, "Soon, honey. Why don't you and your sisters and cousins go back into the living room and play?"

"Yeah, let's go!" cried Melinda. She led the way out of the kitchen, her cousins following. Tamora and Kat, Paige's twin daughters, chatted away with each other, while Prue, Phoebe's oldest daughter, trailed behind Melinda loyally. Penny and Patty, Phoebe's middle daughter, brought up the rear.

I groaned a put my hand to my forehead. "My head is spinning. I don't know why I feel so bad."

"Maybe you should lie down," Henry suggested. "We can finish the dinner."

"No, no," I sighed. "I'm fine."

Three loud knocks from the front door echoed throughout the house. "Who could that be?" Phoebe mused. "Did you invite anyone else?"

I shook my head as Wyatt yelled, "I got it!"

"It's probably just some solicitor," I said. "They like to come late when everyone's drunk and willing to buy their stuff."

"It's only seven," Coop pointed out.

"People drink early in the city," Paige reminded him.

Just as I was opening the oven to take out the baked potatoes, Wyatt called out, "Uh... Mom? Can you come here?"

I furrowed my brow and glanced at the other people in the room. "Are you okay?" I yelled back.

"Yeah, just... come in here. Bring Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige."

"I'll take care of the food," Coop offered. Phoebe, Paige, and I exchanged bewildered looks as we filed out of the kitchen and into the dining room, approaching the front door. Wyatt stood in the doorway, and two men were on the front porch. As we neared, we immediately noticed that the men were wearing very long, navy colored robes – robes that were about four inches too long and grazed the floor. One had circular glasses and black hair and the other had very vibrant red hair. They both had bags under their eyes.

I tried to fight back a smile as I reached the door. "Are you guys selling something?"

"No," said the black-haired man in a thick British accent. "We just have a question for you."

"What?" Phoebe prodded.

"Are you The Charmed Ones?"

We were instantly taken aback. We shot each other perplexed looks. I touched my son's shoulder and exerted a slight amount of force on it. The boy slipped away and reentered the living room, where his siblings and all his cousins were likely standing against the wall to listen to the conversation.

"Look, guys, we don't know who you are or what you've been drinking, but –" I began, but I was cut off by the black-haired man again.

"We just need to know," he said, "if you're them. Because if you are, we have something very urgent to talk to you about."

Paige narrowed her eyes. "Like what?"

"So you _are_ them, right?" the redhead spoke up. "Because if you weren't, you would kick us out."

We exchanged looks, communicating with our eyes. Finally, Phoebe turned back to the men and said, "We're kind of busy right now. We have a full house and we really don't have any time to talk at the moment."

"It's a matter of life or death," the black-haired man said.

I sighed deeply and Paige and Phoebe frowned. "I'll go tell the kids dinner won't be for a while," Paige said, turning and walking into the living room. She jumped at the sight of all the kids listening. "What are you doing!" she exclaimed.

Phoebe returned to the kitchen to tell our husbands of the change of plans and I led the two men into the dining room.

"Would I be right in assuming you know our names?" I asked.

"Erm..." The two men exchanged glances. "We know your names but... we don't know who's who."

"Well, I'm Piper. Piper Halliwell." I held out my hand to shake.

"I'm Harry Potter," said the black-haired man and the redhead introduced himself as Ron Weasley. As soon as they sat down, Phoebe exited the kitchen, followed by Henry, Coop, and Leo. More introductions were made, and finally Paige arrived.

"The kids are in the back," she explained. "Wyatt and Chris promised to look after them, but only if we told them what, uh, they have to say." She pointed to Harry and Ron, who introduced themselves a third time.

Once everyone was seated, I leaned forward, my eyes narrowed, and said, "So, what is this matter of life or death?"

"And what are you two wearing?" Paige asked, eyeing their robes.

"Paige!" Phoebe hissed through gritted teeth and Henry laughed.

"Sorry," murmured Paige, elbowing her husband.

"We didn't have time to change into Muggle clothes," Ron said apologetically. Harry kicked him under the table and Ron's ears turned red.

"Muggle clothes?" I repeated. "What, is that some type of clothing brand in England?"

The two men ignored my question. "This might be hard for you to comprehend," Harry said slowly, "but... we're wizards."

"Wizards?" Paige repeated. "Really? That's... not that hard to comprehend."

"The last time we dealt with a wizard," I said slowly, "it didn't go over so well."

Harry and Ron blinked, seemingly shocked. "Wait, you know?"

Phoebe, Paige, and I looked at each other and scoffed. "Of course we know," Phoebe laughed. "You didn't really do your research, did you? We've been at this for over twenty years."

The two men glanced at each other, looking very confused. "We were told you wouldn't know and that only a handful of people do."

"About wizards?" I asked. "Only a handful?" I glanced at Leo. "Are we talking about the same thing here?"

"I'm confused," Phoebe attributed.

"You know about wand magic?" Ron asked.

There was a small silence and then I began to laugh. "Wand magic?" I chuckled. "Are-are you serious?" My laughter died down as the men removed long, thin sticks of wood from their pockets.

"What the hell?" Paige exclaimed. "This is a joke, right?"

Harry waved his wand and gold sparks flew from it. I instinctively held up my hands and froze the sparks. Harry and Ron gaped at the frozen light, finally resting their gaze upon me.

"How'd you do that?"

"Okay, I am _really_ confused now," Phoebe said loudly, as I unfroze the sparks. "Can we make sure we're all on the same page?" Pointing to the men, she said, "You guys do magic through... wands?" They nodded. "Not through your hands?" They shook their heads. "So you're not wizards that live in the Underworld and trick witches?"

"No," Harry said, offended.

"Okay, so then what are you?" Paige challenged.

"We're wizards that use wands," Harry said again.

"Yeah, we got that part," I said crankily. "Fast-forward."

Harry cleared his throat and I started to wonder just how dire the situation was. Anyone could just say "life or death" without it really meaning life or death. I must have forgotten that during my very long demon-fighting hiatus. "We are part of a whole other magical world. There are loads of us around the world and we all use wands for our magic. We make potions and say spells differently from yours. We're very different from your type of magic."

There was a small silence. "Wait," Phoebe said loudly, "there's a whole other magical community out there? And we didn't know!"

"Hardly anyone knows," Harry interjected quickly. "We were told only around thirty in the entire world. I think Kingsley – our Minister, that is – said that some people called Elders know."

I rounded on Leo. "You knew!" I cried. "You knew and you never told us!"

"No!" said Leo defensively. "I didn't know anything about this! I've never heard of another magical community, much less one that uses _wands_."

"But he said Elders knew," Phoebe pointed out. "You were an Elder."

"Not for long," Leo reminded them. "Whitelighters who had been Elders for decades know a bit more than Whitelighters who have been Elders for a year or two."

Coop cleared his throat at the end of the table. "I knew."

Phoebe turned and gaped at her husband. I leaned toward Leo and said out of the corner of my mouth, "For once it wasn't you withholding information."

"You knew!" Phoebe snapped, echoing my words. "And it just slipped your mind?"

"Cupids are not restricted to one type of people or magic," explained Coop patiently. "I have helped people find love all over the world and that includes in their magical community." He glanced at Ron. "How are you and Hermione?"

Ron jumped slightly, and he stared at Coop with marble shaped eyes. "What – how did you -?"

"You two were one of my favorite couples." Coop grinned.

Phoebe looked back and forth between Ron and Coop, speechless, while Paige, Henry, Leo, and I looked on with amusement.

"Does that mean... me and Ginny –" began Harry, but Coop shook his head.

"No, I wasn't assigned to you two. Which is a shame," he continued, "because you two got together much later that I would've liked."

Harry frowned. "Well, you're one to talk. It took Ron and Hermione seven years to get together." Ron glared at Harry.

"They needed to take it slow," Coop said. "Each relationship is different and you and Ginny were definitely ready to go out much earlier before you actually did. And then, of course, your cupid allowed you two to break up for about a year... trust me, that would not have happened if I was your cupid."

"Okay, can we stop the reminiscing?" Phoebe interrupted before Harry could reply. "What the hell is going on? Why is there all this magic we don't know about? And _why_ do only a select number of people know about it, anyway?"

"I dunno," Ron answered. "We weren't told why."

"But our magic is mixing right now," Harry added.

I frowned. "Mixing? What do you mean?"

"A witch was killed this morning in Surrey," Harry said, opening the file and extracting the photograph of Agatha. "We couldn't figure out how, but after we were told about your magic, we think a, er, demon killed her." He passed the picture across the table to me and I examined it.

"Oh, yeah, this was definitely a demon," I said immediately, passing the photo over to Phoebe and Paige, who glanced at it together.

"Probably a bounty hunter," Paige said. "What was stolen?"

Harry frowned. "How do you know something was stolen?" he asked suspiciously.

"Bounty hunters hunt," I snapped. I was already in a bad mood and this sudden revelation of a whole other magical world out there, combined with this guy's annoying apprehensiveness of me, did not help. "Usually they hunt for other magical beings, but I think you would have told us already if someone was kidnapped."

Ron took out the second photograph. "They stole an athame."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Why do they _always_ steal the athame?"

Harry was watching us and our husbands with narrowed eyes. "You know, you lot are taking this news a whole easier than we did," he said.

"We're always finding something new about the world," Paige admitted. "I can't say we're too shocked."

"No, we're more like pissed off," I grumbled. "After all we did for those stupid Elders, they're still keeping stuff from us?"

"From what I was told," Coop interrupted, "these two magical worlds aren't supposed to be mixed. I was told specifically that a witch that used a wand and a witch that didn't could never fall in love."

"Why not?" Phoebe asked. "What's the big deal?"

Coop shrugged. "I don't ask questions."

"It could have something to do with all the power you guys have," suggested Leo. "Two very powerful types of magic mixing could mean an extremely powerful force of good – as well as a very powerful force of evil."

My sisters and I exchanged looks again. "Okay, but then what are they doing here?" Phoebe asked.

"We're here," Harry said, "because a demon in your world attacked us. They're starting to mix. And if evil is mixing –"

"— good has to follow," Leo finished.

I frowned. The bad feeling that I had been experiencing was resting deep in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed; all this talk made it sound like they were going to have to fight demons again, and I was just not willing to do that. "What are you saying? What do we have to do?"

Harry shrugged. "I dunno. But no one in our world knows that there is a higher type of magic that can protect us if demons start attacking all the time."

"Wait, protect you?" I repeated. "Are you saying you want us to _go_ to England and protect your _world_!"

Harry and Ron were taken aback by my harsh tone. "Well, we dunno – we're just -"

"Piper, relax," Leo said again, but I had enough.

"No, I will not _relax_," I said through clenched teeth. "I gave up eight years of my life fighting evil and being a source for good, and now two _wizards_ wearing dresses and waving around a stick of wood are telling me that I have to drop everything, my career and my family, because I have to _protect_ them, since they can't protect themselves? Sorry, no, but I'm not doing it." I shot up, my chair tipping over backward and crashing to the floor.

"Piper!" Paige exclaimed, but I was already stomping up the stairs.

**-Phoebe-**

Glancing at each other and clearing their throats, Harry and Ron stood up. "We should leave," Harry said, patting down his robes.

"We're really sorry about that," I said earnestly. "We are. It's just... we sacrificed so much to protect the innocent, and after such a long break, we're not very keen on starting up again."

"We understand," Harry said. "We still don't know what course of action we're going to take against these attacks. Our Minister informed us that we would only be able to match the power of the demons, and not be able to – what was the word he used?"

"Vanquish," Ron supplied, looking slightly awed, as if the events of the whole night were just hitting him.

"Yes, vanquish. He said no wizard can vanquish them, which leaves us defenseless." Paige and I followed the two men to the front door to see them out. "Helping us doesn't necessarily mean moving across the world. I do hope, though, that you consider it. Because if your evil is attacking us, then that means that our evil may try to attack you."

Paige and I glanced at each other. "We'll think about it."

The two men held out their wands, Paige and I watching curiously to see what they were about to do, when Harry turned back and said, "Oh, and you should be getting an owl from our Minister tomorrow."

My sister and I blinked in confusion and furrowed our brows as Harry and Ron spun on our front porch and disappeared with a _CRACK_.

Paige looked at me and said, "Did he say we're getting an _owl_?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 2

**-Leo-**

When I awoke the following morning, I stretched out my arm to Piper's side of the bed and was met with only air and cool sheets. I blearily opened my eyes and sat up to find that, aside from me, the bed was completely empty. Yawning, I threw my legs off the side of the bed and stood up. I padded barefoot down the hall and peaked into Piper's old bedroom, which had been renovated to house Chris and Wyatt. The two boys were still sleeping – it was nine in the morning, but during the summer, they tended to sleep in until noon. I then checked up on Melinda, and she, too, was still sleeping.

I was just about to go downstairs – if there was any place that Piper went when she couldn't sleep it was to the kitchen – when I heard footsteps above me. Thoroughly curious, I jogged up the stairs and into the attic. Piper and her sisters had not spent much time in the attic over the last few years, and I was bewildered as to why she was up there so early.

Piper was sitting on the couch in the basement, the Book of Shadows open on her lap. She was staring at the entry that she and her sisters had written in the Book after they defeated Billie and Christy.

She glanced up when I walked in. "I thought we were done," she mumbled. "We defeated the Ultimate Power and fulfilled our destiny. We should be done. They _told us_ we were done."

I sat down next to her. I picked up the Book and placed it on the ground, and put my arm around Piper's shoulders. She leaned into my embrace, and I cupped my hand over the back of her head. "I know, Piper, I know," I said quietly. She was silent as I held her, and after a moment, I added, "But, you know... things change. We've seen that many times."

Piper pulled away and narrowed her eyes at me. "What?"

"Your destiny has changed before," I reminded her. "How many times has the future changed?"

Piper stood up slowly, staring at the ground. She took a few steps away from me, and then turned around. "That's your excuse?" she asked. "Is that our destiny randomly changes without us knowing? Leo, if that's the way the world works, then I am _pissed_. What, they can just tell us we fulfilled our destiny and fifteen years later say, oh, just kidding, you have to save the world, AGAIN!"

"I get that you're mad," I said, standing up too, "but maybe this wasn't foreseen, because the magical worlds weren't ever supposed to meet. Maybe this wasn't even supposed to happen."

"So since some demon didn't follow his life plan, we have to pay for it?" snapped Piper.

"Okay, I really think you're overreacting," I said calmly. "We don't even know what you're going to have to do. Maybe this demon attack was a one-time thing and we'll never have any contact with these people again."

Piper shook her head. "No, no, no. That would be too good to be true. I just know that we're gonna have to pick up and move to freakin' England to protect these people. I just know it."

"If you had to," I said, "would you go?"

It was a moment before Piper responded. "I don't know."

I leaned on the arm of the chair and sighed. "After you left last night, Phoebe and Paige talked the situation over," I said, "and they said that they didn't want to go either. But they also know that they have to."

"Oh, well, that's great," Piper snarled. "Let's just talk even more about what amazing, super witches Phoebe and Paige are. They're so noble, willing to give up everything to save a bunch of strangers. And me, I'm the one who bitches and complains about everything, right?"

"No, Piper –" I started, but I was cut off by the ringing of the doorbell.

"I got it!" Wyatt shouted.

"He's gonna wake everyone up!" Piper said through gritted teeth as we descended the steps of the attic.

"I think the doorbell already did it," I said, nodding toward Melinda's wide open door. Through it we could see the thirteen year old sitting up and wiping sleep from her eyes.

Piper groaned. "Great."

**-Wyatt-**

"Uh, Mom?"

My parents jogged down the steps to the first floor and saw me standing away from the front door. My mom gasped as she noticed that Harry Potter was back – however, his robes were torn and scorched.

"Harry!" she cried, stepping forward, and I moved out of the way. "What the hell is –?"

"You have to come with me," he panted. "The Ministry – it's being attacked by demons."

My parents' and my jaws dropped. "It's _what_!" my mom exclaimed.

"At least four or five of them," Harry explained. "Get your sisters, we gotta go."

"Go?" Mom repeated. "Go where?"

Harry blinked. "We're no match for these demons! We need you and your sisters' help!"

"Well, they're not here," Mom said.

"Where are they!"

"Where do you _think_?" snapped Mom. "At their homes."

Harry swiped at his hair. "Fine, then just you come. Can you fight off a handful of demons?"

"I –" I could tell she wanted to protest, but she knew she had to go. She couldn't stand back and let a bunch of Innocents die just because she didn't want to go to England. Turning to me, she said, "Wyatt, come with me." My heart leapt. My mom and aunts may be over fighting demons, but I had a thirst for it.

"Grab onto me," Harry ordered. "I'm going to take you there."

"But Wyatt can orb."

Harry shook his head. "I don't know what that means, but it'll be faster this way. You won't accidently go to the wrong place."

Piper and I both, hesitantly, seized Harry's left arm as he held his wand up in his right. Harry turned quickly on the spot, and suddenly I felt like my body was being squashed between two walls. The pressure increased the longer we were moving, and I couldn't breathe. A thought briefly crossed my mind that Harry was really a demon that had tricked us in order to kill us, when –

I could suddenly breathe again. My feet touched solid ground and very quickly I was sitting down after losing my balance. My mom was next to me, looking dizzy. She grabbed my arm and lifted me up and just then I took note of my whereabouts.

Harry had taken us into a large building. The ceiling was so high that it looked like it never ended, and the room where we were in – which I could only deduce as the entire ground floor – could fit multiple Manors inside of it.

I had no time to observe any longer as Harry suddenly pushed my mom and me out of the way as a fireball rocketed toward us. "There's eight demons here," Harry said, breathing deeply again.

"Please, we can handle them," Mom scoffed, standing up. The floor was flooded with activity – upwards of five witches or wizards were fighting each demon, and the rest of the people were running away from the scene. Many of them jumped into fires, which I didn't even have time to question.

"Be careful, Wyatt," Mom warned me as we joined the fray.

"I will." I rolled my eyes. Demon fighting was almost second nature to me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom blow up a demon after making her presence known. A few wizards who had been trying to run stopped at the sight and stared at my mom. I approached a demon from behind and blew him up and the wizards who had been battling him turned now to stare at me, their wands held up in midair, their mouths slightly open.

Another demon took notice of his companion being blow up and turned to look around for the source. His search took too much time, however. I materialized an energy ball and threw it toward him – he turned around in time to catch sight of me before the energy ball penetrated him and he vanished.

I glanced at my mom, craning my neck over the crowd of wizards. She had blown up another two demons and I watched as she blew up a third from afar. The wizards battling it glanced around in confusion, but most of the people in the large hall had caught on to the two wandless figures defeating all the attackers.

I located the second to last demon, flicking my hands and blowing him up as well. By this time, the entire crowd on the floor – around a hundred wizards – was watching, standing on tiptoes to get a good look. "Everyone out of the way!" I yelled. Without needing to be told twice, all the wizards scurried away, leaving the final demon and I facing each other in the middle of a ring.

The demon sneered. "I always wanted to go up against you, Wyatt Halliwell." He looked me up and down. "Most powerful witch in the world, they say. The Twice Blessed child that saved magic. How powerful can you really be?"

I was undeterred by the demon's words and held my ground. How many times had I heard this? Demons probably think I get nervous hearing that, but why would I? If anything, it should make the demons nervous. What they're saying is true, after all. The demon smirked and materialized an energy ball, holding it in the palm of his hand. Gasps rippled through the crowd, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a few people kneel down. I clenched my fists at my side, waiting.

To the whole room's surprise, the demon did not hurl the ball at me, but instead at my mother. It was so sudden that my mom did not even have a chance to freeze it. The ball collided with her left shoulder and sent her flying.

"Mom!" I shouted. A handful of wizards approached her, holding out their wands, but she swiped them away, sitting up and supporting herself with her good hand. In the split second that I let my guard down and took a step toward my mom, the demon was able to conjure up another energy ball and throw it toward me.

My mom lifted her injured hand and froze the ball in midair, even though the act caused her to yell out in pain. I waved my arm fiercely, and sent the energy ball flying back to the demon. The demon erupted into flames and then vanished.

I was already by Mom's side. With an entire Ministry of wand wielding magicians watching, I bent over and placed my hands over my mother's wound, healing the cut in seconds. I helped Mom up and we were met with shocked gazes all around.

"What was that?" a short witch finally asked.

"Coming through," Harry's voice floated through the crowd. He pushed past all the gaping wizards to reach Mom and me. He seized our wrists and then pulled us back through the crowd – they all just watched the three of us go, not moving except to turn their heads so they could stare a bit longer. "That was great," Harry complimented once we were out of the claustrophobic crowd. "I didn't know you were so powerful."

"Yeah, well." Harry led us into an elevator-type contraption that was empty except for about fifty paper airplanes hovering above our heads. "It's not all it's cracked up to be when the whole world always needs your help." Mom raised her eyebrows at all the paper airplanes. "What the hell are these?"

"It's a communication system for the Ministry," Harry explained. "There's usually not so many, but everyone's so frenzied about the attack."

"Why do you use paper airplanes?" Mom scoffed.

"It's not like we have phones."

"What's wrong with phones?"

Harry blinked. "Well... nothing," he said. "But we don't have to use electricity. Everything is magic."

Mom glanced around. "So, you guys have your own world and lifestyle based upon magic?" She sighed. "It must be nice to live in a place where you don't have to hide your magic from the world."

"What do you mean?"

"No one knows we're witches," I said. "We have to keep it a secret from everyone we know."

Harry shook his head. "I don't understand."

"We don't live in a magical world," Mom said. "We live in a normal world. We don't know any other witches besides ourselves. You guys have a good deal here."

"How do you use your magic without anyone finding out?" asked Harry, perplexed.

"It's not easy," Mom grumbled. "People have found out. We've gotten in trouble with the police a lot. We've exposed magic accidently. It's not easy," she said again.

The doors to the lift opened on the top floor, revealing a long hallway with wood floors.

"Where are we going?" I asked, leaning forward and peeking down the hall.

"The Minister was going to owl you," Harry said. "But he didn't get around to it. I think it would be beneficial for you to meet with him now, since you're here."

Mom turned to me. "Honey, I want you to orb and get Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige, okay?"

I frowned. "I wanna stay."

But Mom said firmly, "I need you to get Phoebe and Paige because you can orb them here. Then, you can stay. Also, stop by the Manor and tell your father that we're fine."

I sighed. "Okay." I promptly disappeared in a swirl of blue and white lights, wanting to get back as soon as possible.

**-Piper-**

Wyatt's orbing caused Harry to stare.

"What was –" he started, but I cut across him.

"It's a brighter and less painful version of what you guys do," I said.

Harry still looked slightly confused, but he said no more, leading me down the hallway to a large wood door. He knocked twice and we waited in silence for about a minute until the door opened. A large, black man stood in the threshold, fastening his robes. "Harry," he said, with slight surprise. "I was just on my way out. There's a lot of chaos at the moment." His gaze slid over to my face. "Can this wait?"

"I dunno, you tell me," Harry said. "Kingsley, this is Piper Halliwell, one of The Charmed Ones."

Kingsley froze. He stared at Harry and then looked over at me. I smiled. "Hello."

Still surprised, Kingsley gazed at me. "Are you the woman that defeated all the demons in the Atrium?" he asked. "News is spreading all over Britain about the brown haired woman and her blonde son that saved the Ministry."

"Already?" I asked, surprised. "It happened three minutes ago."

As if on cue, a paper airplane zoomed through the hallway and into Kingsley's office. "News travels fast here," he said.

"If it must," Harry said, "it can wait."

"It can what?" I repeated. "What am I supposed to do? You realize that San Francisco and England are eight hours apart, right? I don't want you guys showing up to my house at three in the morning."

"I'll only be gone for up to a half an hour," Kingsley said kindly. "I need to visit _The_ _Daily Prophet_ – they're gonna run a story on The Charmed Ones and let the world know what's going on. And then I –"

"Wait, what?" I interrupted again. "Your newspaper is gonna run a story about me and my sisters? Do we get any say of what goes in it? And you're gonna tell your whole world that demons are after them and that they're defenseless and that, what, we're gonna come down to England to save them every day?"

"No," Kingsley said patiently. "The story they're running is just who you guys are and what you do. It's not a tell-all about your lives. And we're not aiming to worry the community, but after Voldemort, we learned not to lie."

I furrowed my brow. "Voldemort? What?"

Not responding, the Minister turned to Harry. "Why don't you show Piper around? Well," he paused, "to all the people that are still here. I think all the Weasleys would be pleased to meet The Charmed Ones."

"Weasley? As in, Ron Weasley?" I said, and Harry nodded. "All of them? What are they, a cult? And, how do they know who we are? I thought only, like, five people knew."

"Ron told his wife," Harry said, "and I told mine. And Ron told his father and brothers today at work, and my wife told her mother. It spread quickly."

I blinked. "My head is spinning," I confessed.

"I should be back in a half an hour," Kingsley said again. He slipped past Harry and me and strode toward the lift.

"We can't leave yet, you know," I said to Harry. "We have to wait for my sisters. So, while we're here, why don't you tell me about this massive family you have."

Harry cleared his throat. "Erm, okay." Leaning against the wall, he said, "Well. Ron and his wife, Hermione, were my best friends in school. Still are. Ron has four brothers and a sister. He and Hermione got married and I married his younger sister."

"So the three best friends ended up being related," I said, nodding. "That's gotta be a dream come true." I paused for a few seconds. "So six siblings, and you all have kids, then? That's quite the brood."

Harry nodded. "I never thought I'd be a part of such a large family." He glanced up to see me watching him, clearly waiting for him to elaborate. "I'm an only child and my parents died when I was one."

I gasped. "Oh, wow. I'm so sorry." After a moment, I said, "A demon killed my mom when I was four. I barely remember her. And my dad left when I was really little. He came back into our lives later but…" I shook my head. "He missed our childhood. My sisters and I were raised by our grandmother, who died when I was twenty-four."

"I guess we have a bit in common when it comes to losing people," Harry said.

"I guess so." I leaned back against the wall opposite Harry and folded my arms over my chest. There was still so much I wanted to know about this world and I didn't know where to begin. "So, who's this guy, Voldemort? What was this war?"

Harry shrugged. "It's a long story... he was basically a dark wizard that wanted to take over. He was defeated in 1998. We haven't had any huge problems with evil since then. Well," he grimaced, "until now."

"Ah, we've dealt with someone like that, too." I nodded. "A few, actually. The Source of All Evil, the Triad, the Ultimate Power. It's fun saving the world, isn't it?" I said with mild sarcasm.

Slightly confused, Harry tilted his head and stared at me, but was distracted by Wyatt, Phoebe, and Paige orbing in.

**-Paige-**

"Well, it's about time!" cried Piper, standing up straight. "What took you so long?"

"Well, when Wyatt orbed in, I was still in my PJs!" Phoebe said defensively, folding her arms across her chest. "I had to get dressed, do my hair, and put on my makeup."

"So did I," I said.

Piper threw her hands up in the air. "Are you kidding me? Why does it matter so much what you look like?"

"Piper!" I exclaimed. "We are about to meet an entire world of wand magic people. We have to make a good impression!"

Rolling her eyes, Piper said, "Okay, _whatever_. We have to wait, like, a half an hour for the Minister to get back, so Harry's gonna introduce us to some people."

"Oh?" Phoebe inquired. "Like who?"

"My family, first of all," Harry said. "Although that might take the full half hour." He took a step toward the lift and said over his shoulder, "This way."

There was so much that I was trying to wrap my mind around, so much to process. Being told about another magical world was another thing, but actually being in it was another. We are in a world filled with magic, one very different from our own, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. There were about thirty violet colored paper airplanes floating above us as we entered the lift and I eyed them with immense interest.

The weird elevator stopped at the level below the Minister's office and Harry led us through a much busier hallway, filled with more flying airplanes than ever and wizards bustling about every which way.

"Harry! I saw you in the Atrium during the –" a witch started to say, but then stopped when she saw Piper and Wyatt. "You! You guys defeated the... creatures!" she gasped. "I saw it!"

Harry led my sisters, Wyatt, and I past her and attempted to usher us as quickly as possible to the back. "They're not going to be answering any questions right now."

The witch, however, did not seem to hear him. She called out to some of her companions that Piper and Wyatt were the two that saved the Ministry and people began craning their heads over the walls of their cubicles to see.

Harry practically pushed the four of us into his office, which had a small plaque on it that read: "Harry Potter – Head Auror." Underneath it read, "Ronald Weasley – Second in Command Auror."

As soon as Harry shut the door behind him, the other wizard in the room – Ron – yelped in surprise. "Harry!" he exclaimed, jumping up. "Where'd you go? And – where did they come from?"

"I went to get them," Harry said. He waved his wand, and four very plush armchairs materialized out of thin air on the other side of the office.

Phoebe, Piper, Wyatt, and I sat down as Ron said, "Ginny's worried sick! You disappeared right after those demon things attacked and then no one could find you!"

"I'm sorry," said Harry apologetically. "But it was obvious that what Kingsley told us last night was true. These demons are more powerful than we can handle. I thought it would be best to get the Charmed Ones here as soon as possible." After a small hesitation, he asked, "No one died, right?"

Ron shook his head. "No. A couple people are injured, though, and they were taken to St. Mungo's. The Healers are really puzzled at their injuries, apparently. No one's ever needed healing from a, er... big ball of blue light."

"An energy ball," supplied Phoebe.

Ron and Harry turned to her. "A what?" Ron asked weakly.

"Energy ball," she repeated. "It's a common demon power. Oh, but Wyatt can make them too. You know, most powerful witch ever type of thing."

"Aunt Phoebe," mumbled Wyatt in protest.

Harry turned to Ron. "Kingsley wants to talk to The Charmed Ones -"

"You can call us by our names, you know," I offered. "But if 'Piper, Phoebe, and Paige' is too long, 'the sisters' would suffice just fine."

"Yeah, 'The Charmed Ones' is too formal," added Phoebe.

Harry chuckled. "Erm, okay. He wants to talk to the sisters but he's out for another half hour, so I was thinking of introducing them to the family. Could you –"

"Send them all messages? No problem." Ron sat down at his desk, took out his quill and ink bottle, and hurriedly began to write.

"Is that a feather?" Piper asked in surprise. "And ink? You guys really are old-fashioned. I know you're all magic all the time, but a pen would be way easier."

Ron chose to ignore her. "Hermione went home," he said to Harry. "I dunno for how long but she wanted to check on Rose and Hugo. Didn't want them to hear about the attack from their friends first and think we were dead or something," he said casually. He finished writing the letter and waved his wand so that the letter multiplied itself. Another wave of his wand folded them into airplanes and a final one sent them out the door.

"Geez, that was a lot," I said, watching the paper fly out of the office. "Does your whole family work here?"

"No, just five others."

"They have a big family," Piper offered.

I beamed. "Oh, really? So do we!"

"Theirs is bigger," said Piper.

"How big?" asked Phoebe curiously.

"Big enough," said Ron.

Phoebe flipped her hair behind her shoulders and asked, "So, does your family know about us or something?"

Ron grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. We kind of told our wives and it spread quickly. Hermione went to Diagon Alley and bought all the books she could find on The Charmed Ones and she brought them to work today and everyone just sat around studying up during lunch." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Even though we'd told them everything we knew," Harry said.

"Die-gone Alley?" repeated Phoebe.

"Yeah, you lost us there," I said.

"They have books about us?" Piper asked.

Harry half-shrugged. "I suppose. I think they're mostly, like, fairytale books and you have your own section."

Phoebe looked highly affronted. "Fairytales? You're joking."

The door flew open without a knock preceding it. "Ron? Are the –" the man who entered started, but stopped at the sight of Piper, Phoebe, Wyatt, and I. "The Charmed Ones," he breathed. The man was almost completely bald and wore glasses and very sleek maroon robes. The four of us stood up and the man thrust out his hand to shake Piper's. "It is so nice to finally meet you."

"Dad, you only heard about them this morning," Ron said.

Ignoring his son, the man said, as he vigorously shook Phoebe's hand, "So you're Muggles that can do magic?"

Phoebe blinked. "Um, excuse me, what?"

"I thought Muggle was a clothing brand," Piper said.

"Dad, they're not Muggles," Ron said exasperatedly. "They're witches."

Ron's father moved down the line to shake my hand. His grip was vice-like and his handshake very firm. "Yes, but they can't use wands!" he said excitedly. "They never got letters for Hogwarts and yet they're still witches! It's fascinating!"

"And you are?" I asked, a little apprehensively as he shook my hand for a full minute.

"Oh, my mistake, I'm Arthur Weasley. Ron's father, Harry's father-in-law." He went on to shake Wyatt's hand and then froze. "Who are you?"

"This is my son, Wyatt," Piper said and Wyatt scowled at her.

"Thanks, Mom, I can introduce myself."

Arthur stared at Wyatt for a long minute. "Wait. Are you Piper's oldest son?"

"Um... yeah." Wyatt cast a side-long glance at us, and we shrugged.

"When were you born?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"February second," said Wyatt slowly.

Arthur's forehead wrinkled and he said, "2003?"

"How did you know that?" asked Piper suspiciously.

"That was the day of Aurora Borealis," Arthur said. He turned to Ron and Harry and asked, "Do you two remember that day?" When they looked at him perplexedly, he elaborated, "The Day Magic Died. We couldn't use any magic – nothing was working. The entire magical world was in shambles. It came back sometime in the middle of the night. One of the Unspeakables told me that the magic returned with the birth of a Twice Blessed child, but _The_ _Daily Prophet_ reported it as a myth. They said that Aurora Borealis happens every thousand years and it serves as a magical recovery day. I never believed it. I never told anyone what the Unspeakable told me, but I always wanted to meet that Twice Blessed child. In one of the books Hermione bought about The Charmed Ones, it said that the eldest sister's first born son was a Twice Blessed child and I wondered if he _the_ child."

There was a short silence as those in the room digested the information. "Well, he is!" I said cheerily.

"You guys got hit with that, too?" Piper asked, surprised.

Arthur could only nod before the door opened again and a redhaired man with glasses – he resembled his father, except he was taller and thinner – followed by a brunette woman stepped inside.

"The Charmed Ones are here?" the man asked.

"Over here." Piper waved.

The man and woman strode over to them, and the two began shaking their hands as well. "Percy Weasley and my wife, Audrey," the man introduced. "So very nice to meet you."

The door opened a third time and a very tall, beautiful girl with white-blonde hair walked in. Behind her was a shorter woman, with curly brown hair, who was holding a very thick briefcase.

"I met Fleur in the lift," the brunette woman said to Ron. "She told me –" She caught sight of the sisters. "Oh, my God. I am –"

"So happy to see us?" Piper guessed. "Yeah, we know."

Phoebe and I glared at Piper. "Sorry, she's just a little cranky," Phoebe said apologetically.

"Well, it _is_, like, ten our time," Piper said. "And I woke up early." She gazed around. "Is anyone else coming? I'd like to get all the introductions done at once."

Harry stood up. "No, this is everyone."

"Good!" Piper said cheerfully. "I'm Piper. This is Phoebe, Paige, and Wyatt. And we're The Charmed Ones! Well –" She paused. "Not Wyatt. He's my son. But he's all-powerful too."

"Eet iz so great to meet you," the blonde woman, Fleur, said in a throaty French accent. "Ron an' 'Arry 'ave told us so much about you!"

"Can we see your magic?" Arthur asked eagerly. "Please?"

"Sure!" Wyatt said happily.

Piper shot him a glare. "No!" At the blank stares, she added quickly, "I just… don't think it's a very good idea. Maybe later."

"I saw her use her powers, Dad," Percy said loudly. "I was in the Atrium fighting one of the creatures when they came." He pointed at Piper and said, "She blew them up."

Arthur, Fleur, and the brunette woman gaped at Piper. My sister smiled hesitantly. "You blew up a person?" gasped Audrey.

"Oh, it wasn't a person," Piper laughed. "It was a demon. They're evil and the only way to stop them is to kill them."

"You couldn't've just put it in Azkaban?" Audrey asked.

My sisters and I exchanged puzzled glances. "Well, we don't know what Azkaban is..." I said slowly, "but, we doubt it. Demons are evil by nature. They're not born neutral; they're born evil and the world is better off with them all dead."

"Look, we don't need any lectures about the way we do things," said Piper with mild annoyance. "We've been doing this for over twenty years."

Arthur stepped forward excitedly. "Doing what? Wandless magic?"

"Well... yeah," said Phoebe, "that. But also fighting demons, protecting the innocent, all that good stuff. Look, warlocks and demons, they're meant to be vanquished."

"I have a couple questions," the brown haired woman said with breathless excitement.

Piper interjected, "Hold up a second. Your name?"

"Oh, sorry." The woman flushed. "Hermione."

"Hermione. That's a name you don't hear every day," Piper said to Phoebe and me.

"Neither is Piper," Phoebe said.

"Fair enough." Piper turned back to Hermione and smiled. "Go on."

Hermione smiled timidly and said, "Well, there are a lot of stories about you three in various books about mythical creatures and fairytales, and some of them have conflicting information. One says that within The Charmed Ones, the oldest has telekinesis, the middle can freeze time, and the youngest can see the future. Another says the oldest can freeze, middle can see the future, and the youngest has telekinesis. Are either of those true?"

"Well –" Piper began, but I cut her off.

"Mythical creatures?" I repeated. "We're in books about _mythical creatures_? Um, hello, we are most definitely _not_ mythical creatures."

Piper turned to me and said through clenched teeth and a sarcastic smile, "Paige?"

Scowling, I folded my arms over my chest. "Fine."

Glancing back at Hermione, Piper said, "Well, both of those are true, actually. When we first became The Charmed Ones, it consisted of me, Phoebe, and our oldest sister Prue. She could move things with her mind. She died about three years after we got our powers and not even two weeks later we found out about Paige, a sister we didn't know existed. She has telekinesis too. A different kind but... that's another story."

"By the way," interjected Phoebe, "I can see the past and the present too. Not just the future."

"Wait, Percy," Fleur said, "I thought you said zat she blew up a demon." She pointed at Piper.

"She did!" Percy cried indignantly.

Hermione furrowed her brow. "The books didn't mention anything about blowing up."

"Well, I can freeze and blow up," Piper said.

"We saw her freeze yesterday," Ron said quickly. "It was wicked."

His wife turned around to stare at him, open-mouthed. "You saw it?" she whispered. "What was it like?"

"It's nothing special," Phoebe said. "It's actually pretty ordinary."

"But not to us!" Hermione said with breathless excitement. "Being able to perform magic with just your hands –"

"Is what we do every day," I interrupted. "Now, being able to do magic through a stick of wood – _that's_ impressive."

The door to Harry and Ron's office burst open before another word could be said and Kingsley stepped inside the office, his robes slightly askew.

"Kingsley, I thought you said a half hour," Harry said, checking his watch. "It's only been –"

"A demon is at Hogwarts," Kingsley said in a rush.

The Weasley family were all immediately on alert, but us Halliwells were rather confused. "How did it get in?" Percy asked seriously. "All the charms surrounding it –"

"— have no affect on a demon," Kingsley said. "I need to bring The Charmed Ones there now. Professor Ulvaeous can't hold it off for that long."

"Excuse me, but, did you say... Hogwarts?" Phoebe repeated, standing up. "What kind of name is that?"

"It's the name of our school," Arthur said. "The best wizarding school in the world, actually."

Piper snorted. "And you call it Hogwarts?"

"There's no time," Kingsley said urgently. "We must get there as soon as we can. We have to Apparate outside the grounds and then –"

"Why outside?" asked Piper. "It would probably be faster to appear-ate right to the demon, wouldn't it?"

"We can't," said Hermione. "You can't Apparate inside the grounds. One of the protection spells."

"Well," I said, "show me a picture of the school. I can orb there."

"Orb?" repeated Ron.

"But you can't –" Hermione began again, but Phoebe cut her off.

"If your protection spells didn't work on the demon, then they won't work on us either."

Harry opened one of his desk drawers and rummaged through it while Piper turned to Wyatt and said, "Wyatt, why don't you go on home?"

"What? No!" he protested immediately. "I wanna kick some demon ass."

"Watch your mouth!" Phoebe scolded immediately and Wyatt scowled.

"You might need me, Mom," Wyatt tried.

Piper smirked. "Sorry, kid. You might be the most powerful witch in the world, but we're the second most powerful. Go home, now. And don't worry," she added, "we'll tell you everything."

Wyatt sighed deeply. "Fine."

As he disappeared in a swaddle of orbs, I called after him, "Tell Henry, Coop, and Leo that we're fine!"

Wyatt's disappearance placed a look of wide-eyed shock on everyone's faces except Kingsley's and Harry's. "That's how you guys Apparate?" asked Audrey.

"It's called orbing," Piper said, "and yes."

"Here." Harry thrust a picture of Hogwarts under my nose. It was a photo of Harry, Ron, and Hermione when they were teenagers. They were smiling and posing in front of a large castle-sort of building, with huge double doors that were probably taller than the entire Halliwell Manor. The biggest surprise, however, was the fact that the picture was moving. In it, Hermione kept turning to snap at Ron about something and the two would argue. Harry's smile would become forced until he eventually yelled at them.

"What the hell?" Piper exclaimed. "The picture – it's –"

"No time," Kingsley said. "You need to orb." He crossed the office with two swift steps and added, "Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I think you three should come along, too."

"Everyone, hold on," I said. Piper, Phoebe, and Kingsley each gripped one of my arms, while the other trio hesitantly reached for a part of Piper or Phoebe to grab on to. I closed my eyes, concentrating on imagining the castle from the background of Harry's picture, and the seven of us were transported nearly instantly to the front steps of Hogwarts School.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Kingsley stumbled a bit upon arriving. "I feel light-headed," Hermione said, gripping Ron's elbow.

Phoebe wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that's kinda how it's like the first few times." She looked around at the massive school and its acres of land. "So... where's the demon?"

A few stories above them they heard the sound of shattering glass. Glancing up, they saw a figure falling from a broken window, waving his arms like crazy. We ran toward him and before the wizards had time to draw their wands, Piper waved her hands and froze the man mid-fall.

Hermione turned to gape at Piper. "Whoa."

"Okay, Paige, do your thing," Phoebe said.

With a scrunched up face, I held out my arms. "Um... old wizard!"

The man disappeared in a plethora of orbs and reappeared in my arms. However, I could not support his frozen weight and fell backward with a loud "Oof!" The movement unfroze the man, who jerked in surprise at suddenly finding himself sprawled on top of a woman on the ground.

"Old wizard?" scoffed Piper.

Scowling, I grunted, "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

"What!" the man cried.

Kingsley pulled him up easily and said, "Professor, these are The Charmed Ones."

"Where's the – the thing?" he asked fearfully.

"The thing?" repeated Hermione with a furrowed brow.

In answer to her question, a demon shimmered onto the ground, his back to the group. "Where are you, old man?" he growled.

Hermione beat the sisters to the punch by whipping out her wand and shouting, "_Stupefy!_" Her wand emitted a jet of scarlet light. It rocketed toward the demon and struck him in the shoulder, sending him flying. He hit the wall and crumpled.

"Did I kill him?" she asked nervously. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Piper, Phoebe, and I jogged over to it.

"No, because he's still here," Piper said.

The demon stirred and opened his eyes, catching sight of the sisters. Snarling, he jumped up. "You!" he cried.

Piper waved her hands to blow him up but it only caused him to stumble.

"Crap," she murmured.

The demon sneered and conjured up a fireball. He threw it toward them just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione declared in unison, "_Protego!_" A shield erupted before them.

"Fireball!" I shouted. The fireball appeared in my hand, and I threw it back at him.

"Wait!" Piper waved her hands, and the demon and fireball both froze.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, while Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared.

"Maybe we should ask him a few questions," Piper said. "Ask him what all the demons are doing here, and what their plan is."

Phoebe and I exchanged glances and nodded. "Good idea," I said.

Smiling broadly, Phoebe said, "That's why you're the oldest."

"Yeah, yeah." In one motion, Piper used her right hand to blow up the fireball and the other to unfreeze only the demon's head.

"What –" the demon snarled. He looked down and saw that his body was still frozen. "Unfreeze me, witch!" he demanded.

"I don't think so," said Piper. She took a step toward the demon. "Why don't you tell me what you're doing here, and what your friends were doing at the Ministry, and why you went to Agatha Puggle's house. Then we'll talk."

I murmured to Piper, "Too bad we don't have any crystals."

"I'll never tell you anything," the demon snarled.

Piper sighed. "Look, we've been at this for a long time, so don't think that that's gonna work on us. You're frozen, remember. I could blow up your arm if I wanted."

She held up her hands to do so, but the demon cried, "No! Wait."

We looked at him with interest and the other trio stared aptly.

"The Source sent us," he said, breathing heavily.

Three jaws dropped. "The _Source_?" repeated Phoebe. "As in The Source of All Things Evil!"

"This cannot be happening," I groaned.

"So The Source knows everything?" Piper asked. "About this world?"

The demon nodded. But before he could say anymore, he erupted in flames. His body unfroze and he screamed as the pain overtook him; a few seconds later he exploded and disappeared.

"What did you do?" Ron asked weakly, staring at the spot where the demon used to be.

"Nothing," Phoebe muttered. "It was The Source. He killed him before he could say anything else."

"The Source?" reiterated Hermione. "What's he?" 

"The Source of all Evil," Phoebe said glumly.

"And he's –"

"A demon," finished Piper. "The most powerful one in the Underworld. One whom we've actually vanquished. Twice."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged worried gazes. "And he's back?" Ron asked.

"A different one, yeah," said Phoebe. "But we know as much as you do."

Kingsley and the old wizard approached us. The old man had a very scraggly gray beard and mustache that was about three inches long. He was bald, which he most likely hid beneath the pointed black hat clutched in his hand. He was four heads shorter than Kingsley and his knees were shaking.

"What... was that?" he asked, gasping.

"That was a demon," said Piper bluntly, smiling sympathetically. "Sorry," she added, as Phoebe and I sent her glares.

"A demon?" the man repeated.

"Are you Professor Ulvaeous?" Phoebe asked.

The man nodded. "Yes. I'm the Headmaster of Hogwarts. How did you guys – do that with your hands?"

"I'll explain it to you later, Antonius," Kingsley said. He turned to the sisters and said, "As you can see, our world is not safe against these demons."

Piper nodded, staring at Kingsley as if daring him to say what we all knew was coming. "Yes. We _can_ see." This time, she ignored the looks Phoebe and I gave her.

"I think you know what I'm about to ask of you," Kingsley said.

Frowning, I said, "What, that you want us to move here?" I wish I could say that my heart sunk at the thought, but truthfully, it didn't. While Piper and Phoebe no longer fought evil, I still watched after my charges, and – as awful as this might sound – the job was getting dull. I enjoyed being active in the magical community, something my sisters and I had always chalked up to me being newer at the job than they were, but after twenty years, I still liked it. Sure, moving to England would mean leaving my friends behind, but it would only be temporarily. It would be kinda cool living in England. My only worry was about Tamora, Kat, and little Henry. Would they come too?

"We need protection," said Kingsley carefully. "And you three are the only ones that can give it to us. As you've seen demonstrated today, twice, we do not have what it takes to defeat these demons, and there will be more coming."

Piper shook her head. "Sorry. No."

"_Piper_," said Phoebe, but our older sister did not listen this time.

"Sorry, but _no_. You cannot expect us to move to England. You can't. Do you understand that we aren't just demon killing machines? We have _lives_, you know." Piper glared at the Minister. "Not only do I own a restaurant, but I have kids and a husband. I can't just pick up and leave them for an undetermined amount of time. And Phoebe and Paige, they have jobs too! And we also have friends, and relatives, and – and – we were supposed to be _done_! Fourteen years ago the Angel of freakin' Destiny told us we were DONE. So you can't wave your wands and appear-ate, or whatever the hell you guys do, into our lives and tell us that we have to drop everything to save your asses!"

"Piper," growled Phoebe. "Stop it. This isn't their fault."

"I _know_ it's not their fault!" shouted Piper. "But I have to blame someone!"

"So blame The Source!" yelled Phoebe, turning on her sister. "Take it out on the bastard that started it!"

"Well, I can't!" Piper growled. "Because he's not here, and _he_ is," she pointed to Kingsley, "and _he's_ telling us to move across the world, so I'm gonna blame _him_ right now."

I turned to Kinglsey and asked calmly, "If we do move here, where would we live? What would we do?"

"I need to talk it over with Antonius first," Kingsley said, seemingly undeterred by Piper's speech, "but I was going to propose having you, and your families, live here." He gestured to the school around him. "Hogwarts will need the most protection. Young wizards need to be educated, but if demons are popping up everywhere, we won't be able to open the school. If you three are here, the school will be safe. It would also be a good idea for your kids to join the students, live in dormitories and go to classes with the rest of the school. And, I would ask you to perhaps teach a new class."

"We live in the real world," snapped Piper. "My kids are going to need jobs some day, and they can't put Hogwarts Wizard School grad on their applications."

"What kind of class would we teach?" I asked, ignoring Piper. The more I heard about this plan, the more interested I was becoming. I understood Piper's concern about our kids leaving school, but the way I saw it, we wouldn't be here forever. My kids are younger, so if they had to leave school and attend magic school for a few months, I didn't see many, if any, long-term effects. And maybe – just maybe – our kids would decide to immerse themselves completely in this all-magic community.

Kingsley shook his head. "I don't know. Perhaps a class about Wiccan magic. Again, though, Antonius and I would need to talk it over."

Professor Ulvaeous, however, was nodding feverishly. "I think it's a brilliant idea! The students will need to be protected and in the meantime they'll need to learn how to protect themselves."

"We haven't said yes," Piper spat.

"Your husbands can come as well," Kingsley said. "It's a big castle and we'll be able to find nice, spacious living quarters for you and your families."

"Paige's husband is a parole officer," said Piper. "I don't think they'd give him a paid vacation for a year to move to England and live in a magical school. And Phoebe is an internationally known advice columnist, so she can't leave either. And, like I said, I _own_ a restaurant!"

"I understand, Piper," Kingsley said gently. "And I don't expect you to agree right away."

"I'm _never_ agreeing," Piper said firmly.

"However, I want you to consider it," continued Kingsley. "The children –"

"Don't make me feel guilty," said Piper. "It's not gonna work."

I turned to Piper in exasperation. "Okay, Piper, you need to stop. You're not the only sister here. They're asking Phoebe and me to go, too."

"What, and you actually want to?"

I decided it would be a bad idea to share with Piper my true feelings on the subject, so instead I said, "I might not want to, but I really don't think we have much of a choice! Do you really think that we could sit at home, knowing what was happening here?"

Piper scowled but did not say anything else.

"Of course, you don't have to let us know right away," said Kingsley. "The school year doesn't start for another month. However, Mrs. Molly Weasley – mother of Ron, here – owled me and asked me to pass along a dinner invitation for your family on Saturday night. I really hope you decide to join them."

"We'll think about it," said Phoebe.

"Can we go now?" Piper asked irritably.

Kingsley inclined his head. I held out my arms, Phoebe and Piper each grabbing one, and I orbed them home.


	3. Chapter 3

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 3

**-Piper-**

"Piper! Are you almost ready?"

I sighed deeply. I was sitting at my vanity, my brush clutched in my hand. I had been brushing my hair for the last ten minutes, it now reaching a state of silky softness, willing myself to stop and go downstairs where my family was waiting for me.

Phoebe and Paige had convinced me to accept the dinner invitation from the Weasley family when an owl – an _owl_! – had arrived on Thursday. The entire Weasley family was going to be there, which included, as Molly Weasley had informed us, twenty-six people. Combined with the Halliwell group of fifteen, it was going to be quite a gathering, especially considering the fact that half of them were children.

I groaned and put my forehead in my hands. Over the last few days, my worst fear had started to unveil itself – I was seriously considering moving to that Hogwarts school. I had convinced myself, when Kingsley brought it up, that I would never, ever agree to it and nothing that my sisters or Leo said was going to change my mind. But, just as they knew I would, I began to wear down. I had a dream one night, where I awoke to find Harry, with torn robes and blood running down his face, telling me that everyone was dead. The whole Weasley family, the entire student body, the whole Ministry. He was the last one left, he said, and it was entirely my fault. He has lost everyone all because I had been too stubborn to help. I arose that morning in a cold sweat.

I still did not know how I was going to do it. Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, and the rest of the kids could not get the education they needed from Hogwarts, and Wyatt was going to be a senior in high school – he could not get his degree from a magic school. I didn't know how they would react to being taken out of their current school and away from their friends. I could not move to England and leave my restaurant in the care of managers for who knew how long. No way would Henry be able to leave his job. I exhaled again.

"Coming!"

I grabbed a white cardigan and slipped it on over my silk yellow V-neck top before swinging my purse over my shoulder and jogging down the steps.

"I'm here," I said, slightly out of breath, when I reached the landing. The other members of my family were waiting impatiently at the bottom.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Paige.

I ignored my younger sister. "Is everyone else ready?"

"Have been for fifteen minutes," Wyatt said under his breath.

I held up a finger. "I heard that," I snapped.

"Are we ready to go?" Phoebe said.

Coop, Paige, and Wyatt, the designated transporters, all nodded. Coop wrapped his arms around his family, Paige around hers, and Leo, Chris, Melinda, and I held onto Wyatt.

The large Halliwell family materialized in the garden of a very tall, but slightly drooped, house. It was at least five stories tall and had a number of chimneys sticking out of the top. Before we could stare for longer than three seconds, a high-pitched scream erupted.

"MOOOO-OOOOM!" a little girl screamed. She was standing next to two long, wooden tables, a handful of silverware and napkins clutched in her hands, and she was staring, pale-faced, at the new arrivals. "MOM!" she shrieked again, dropping the assortment of forks, knives, and spoons. The girl looked to be about Prue's age and she had vibrant red hair.

Four people ran outside at the sound of the little girl's screams. "Lily!" a redheaded woman said breathlessly. Her daughter was the spitting image of her mother. "What's –" She followed her daughter's gaze to my family.

"Hi," I said nervously, my eyes flicking between the four adults outside. "Uh... I think we were expected."

Behind the redheaded woman's shoulders was Harry. "Ginny, it's The Charmed Ones," Harry said, putting his hand on the woman's shoulders. Two other women had also streaked outside at Lily's cries – one was a black girl with dark hair pulled into a bun and the other was Audrey.

The Halliwell family approached the five Weasleys cautiously. "I'm sorry about that," Ginny apologized, holding her hand out to shake. "My daughter, Lily, is easily frightened."

"Am not!" Lily protested, blushing. "They appeared from-from – blue light! It was scary!"

"I'm Ginny Potter," Ginny introduced, shaking our hands. "And I think you've all met Harry?"

Audrey approached Leo, Henry, and Coop, formally introducing herself, and the black woman held her hand out my sisters and me. "Angelina Weasley," she greeted.

"Mum! Dad!" Ginny called into the house. "Our guests are here."

There was a bustle of movement as a stream of people, most with red hair, stepped out of the house. We all stepped back, my eyes wide, at the sight of the massive family.

Greetings were made, and all of us met Molly and Arthur Weasley, their sons Bill, Charlie, Percy, George, and Ron, Ron's wife Hermione, Bill's wife Fleur, and Bill and Fleur's two daughters, Victoire and Dominique.

"It's going to be an eventful dinner," Molly beamed. She glanced down at all the children and said, "The rest of the kids are playing out front, why don't you go meet them?"

**-Chris-**

At Mrs. Weasley's words, Melinda immediately led our younger cousins through the garden and around the house, eager to make new friends. I took a few steps and waited for Wyatt, whose eyes lingered on Dominique.

"Mom, can't I stay with the adults?" he asked quietly.

Mom furrowed her brow. "Well, it's gonna be boring. I'm gonna bitch out how unfair this whole destiny thing is while they convince me to move here."

"But I –"

Mrs. Weasley smiled down at Wyatt, overhearing the conversation. "It's okay, Percy's daughter Molly and George's son Fred are your age, too. Seventeen, right?" Wyatt nodded. "They're with the rest of the kids."

"Go on," Piper urged.

Wyatt sighed and turned around, joining me and following Melinda's path to the other side of the house.

"You thought Dominique was hot, didn't you?" I said smugly. I could see why he thought so – she and the other girl, Victoire, had to be some of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Shut up," muttered Wyatt.

We emerged at the front of the house and were met with a large mass of children playing with toy wands, broomsticks, and a whole barrage of other toys that Wyatt and I had never seen before.

"Hi!" a girl with curly red hair and round glasses said promptly. She, like most of her family members, was wearing faded jeans and an outdated sweater. Her red hair reached her shoulders, and she had a dust of freckles on her nose and cheeks.

We jumped slightly. "Hi." Wyatt smiled politely. "Uh... I'm Wyatt and this is Chris."

The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Molly," she said in a British accent. She thrust out her hand, beaming at us. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, and I noted that her ears were a bit bigger than normal.

Wyatt shook her hand apprehensively. "Nice to meet you." Wyatt glanced over her outfit and then down at his, and I knew that my brother and I were thinking the same thing: our clothes really stuck out against her family's style.

Molly and I shook hands as well. "So, uh... you have a big family," I said bluntly. Wyatt elbowed me painfully in the ribs and I grunted in pain. "What?" I said through clenched teeth.

"You can't say stuff like that," Wyatt hissed back.

Molly, however, was unperturbed. "Yeah, we do." She shrugged. "But it's fun. Here, I'll introduce you to everyone." She turned around, where the Weasley children were playing with the Halliwells. "Let's see... there's Al, Rose, Hugo... Roxy and Lucy... and James and Louis and Fred. Oh, and Lily." She pointed at the same small redhaired girl that had screamed upon their arrival, who had just turned the corner of the house. "Victoire and Dom are helping with the cooking."

Wyatt and I nodded slowly, our eyes roving among Molly's many cousins. "I'm probably not gonna remember that," said Wyatt apologetically.

Molly laughed. "That's okay. You'll get to know us at Hogwarts."

I snored. "What'd you say?" I asked, stifling a smile.

Glancing between the two of them in confusion, Molly said, "Hogwarts. You know, Hogwarts School?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Wyatt. "The wizard school?" Molly nodded. "Yeah, my mom said something about that. I don't know if we're going."

Molly frowned. "My mum and dad said you were gonna go and that your mums would be teaching."

"Our mom? Teaching? Ha!" I let out a bark of laughter. "Maybe Dad, but my mom doesn't teach."

Shrugging, Molly said, "That's what my dad said."

"I know that my mom said if we move here, we'll be protecting you all," Wyatt said.

"Protecting us?" scoffed a boy with dark black hair. Two other boys were next to him, one a black boy with dark hair and the other with red hair, although a different shade than the rest of his family – it was more a strawberry blonde color. I recognized them as the group that Molly had referred to as, "James and Fred and Louis," but I didn't know who was who.

"Yeah," said Wyatt. "That's what my mom and aunts said."

The boy folded his arms across his chest. "Why do we need protecting?"

Wyatt and I exchanged glances. Our mother had told us about The Source being back, but had forbidden us from telling our sister and cousins. With a half-shrug, I knew that Wyatt was thinking the same thing as me – well, the Weasleys aren't our family.

"This huge evil demon wants to take over the magical world," I said frankly. "My mom and aunts are the only ones that can defeat him."

"Yeah, well," the boy scowled, "my dad beat Lord Voldemort. I'm sure he can defeat a... demon."

"I don't know who Lord Voldemort is," said Wyatt, "but my mom and her sisters _really_ are the only ones that can vanquish The Source." 

"The Source?" repeated the black boy, in unison with a much higher voice belonging to a young Halliwell.

Prue approached Wyatt and me with wide eyes. "The Source?" she said, again, softly.

We looked at each other again, biting our lips at our mistake. "Don't worry, Prue." I put my arm around the twelve-year-old. "You have nothing to worry about."

"But..." She swallowed, Molly and the three boys looking on. "The Source of All Evil is back. Does he wanna kill us?"

"Nah." I shook her comment off. "He just wants –" Wyatt stomped, hard, on my foot, causing me to cut off with a, "Ouch!" I glared at Wyatt. "No matter what he wants," I restarted, "We're gonna get him. Your mom, my mom, and Aunt Paige are the most powerful witches in the world, remember?" Prue nodded, still frowning. "Nothing's gonna happen to us."

"Okay," said Prue in a small voice. She broke away from me and ambled back over to Melinda and her new Weasley acquaintances.

"Mom's gonna kill us," I said to Wyatt.

Rolling his eyes, Wyatt said, "She's gonna kill you more, because you almost told Prue what The Source wants. Nice job."

"Hold on," Molly interrupted, and Wyatt and I remembered that we had a small audience. "Some guy who calls himself The Source of All Evil is out to get us?"

"It's a demon," I said, "and he doesn't just call himself The Source, he _is_ The Source."

"What's a demon?" the boy with strawberry blonde hair asked.

"Is that a wizard?" the black boy questioned.

I sighed. "It's kind of hard to explain..."

"Your parents will explain it to you soon enough," Wyatt interjected. "If we go to Hogwarts, everyone will know."

Molly and the three boys glanced at each other, looking slightly apprehensive. In an attempt to lighten the mood, I cleared my throat and said, "So, what are your guys' names again?"

"I'm James," said the boy with the unruly dark hair. The black boy introduced himself as Fred and the final blonde boy as Louis.

Wyatt nodded. "Right. So, you guys are all cousins, then? How many of you are there, exactly?"

"Yup, all cousins!" said Molly brightly. "There's twelve of us in all."

"And how old are you guys?" I asked.

Molly and Fred established their ages as seventeen ("Almost eighteen!" said Molly happily), Louis as sixteen, and James fifteen.

"So Fred and I are going to be seventh years at Hogwarts," explained Molly, "Louis is a sixth year, and James is a fifth year. How old are you guys?" After hearing that Wyatt was seventeen and I fifteen, she said, "Oh, so when – I mean, _if_ – you guys go to Hogwarts, Wyatt, you'll be a seventh year with me and Fred and Chris'll be a fifth year with James."

Wyatt and I stared at Molly as we nodded slowly. Most of what she was saying was barely registering with us, simply going in one ear and out the other. Fifth year? Fifth year out of how many?

Eyeing the rest of their cousins, Molly asked, "You have some young relatives. How old are all your cousins?"

"Erm –" Wyatt and I exchanged glances. Neither of us was that good when it came to ages. "Melinda is thirteen," I began. "And Prue is…"

"She's twelve," supplied Wyatt. "So are Tamora and Kat. And Henry is eleven."

"Patty's ten."

"And Penny's seven."

"They're not all old enough to go to Hogwarts," said Molly. "You have to be eleven. So Henry will be a first year. Prue and the twins will be second years, with Hugo and Lily, and Melinda will be a third year."

"How do remember how old all of your twelve cousins are?" I asked in awe.

Molly shrugged, a wide smile upon her face. "It's easy to me!" She glanced around at all the kids. "I hope you guys are all in Gryffindor! All the Weasleys and Potters have been in Gryffindor, so it'll be SO much fun if you guys are too!"

Wyatt and I, yet again, exchanged perplexed and exasperated glances. This night was going to be _very_ long.

**-Phoebe-**

As the kids all rounded the corner of the house, the Weasley women herded all of us Halliwells into the house, with the Weasley men bringing up the rear. The Weasley kitchen was barely bigger than the Manor's, and clearly could not hold the nineteen people currently crammed into it.

"I propose that we men gather for a quick drink of firewhiskey before dinner," Bill announced loudly over the dull grumble of people chatting. "We all know how much Mum dislikes men in her kitchen, anyway."

The Weasley men all mumbled their agreement and began shuffling into the living room. Leo, Coop, and Henry followed a bit hesitantly and I figured why – what the hell was firewhiskey? If there was any noun that could have been paired with whiskey to make it sound worse than it already was, fire was the best one out there.

Left in the kitchen after the men were gone were Molly, her daughter Ginny, daughters-in-law Fleur, Audrey, Angelina, and Hermione, granddaughters Victoire and Dominique, and Piper, Paige, and I. It was still fairly crowded and I didn't see how any cooking would get done.

"Piper, Paige, Phoebe, you all sit down," Molly instructed immediately. "You are our guests so I will not let you help."

Paige and I heeded her words instantly, sitting down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen, but Piper remained standing. "Are you sure?" she asked timidly. "I'm a chef, after all –"

"I'm one hundred percent sure," said Molly firmly. "However, I would love to try some of your cooking sometime!"

"That's mum's way of trying to invite herself to your house," Ginny smirked.

"Is not!" Molly said unconvincingly, flushing magenta.

Piper smiled. "I would love to have you all over, but my house can barely hold my own family for dinner and we don't have all this land like you guys do."

"Well, you'll just have to cook for us while you're at Hogwarts," Molly said carefully, glancing at Piper out of the corner of her eye. Piper, however, remained quiet and instead just sat down, which I took as a good sign.

The eight Weasley witches were all bustling about the small kitchen, waving their wands so that the cooking was done nearly entirely by magic. Knives cut up vegetables on their own accord, spoons stirred contents in bowls with no hands guiding, and the substances were poured into pans without anyone touching them. My sisters and I watched them work in awe; it was so weird being in a place where _everything_ was magical. Sure, the Manor was a fairly magic-filled place, but we had people coming over all the time that knew nothing of our magical abilities, so the magic was kept to a minimum. Chances are, however, that the Weasleys never have non-magical people over – in fact, they probably don't even know any non-magical people. Their entire, everyday lives include magic and that's something that will probably take a while for my sisters and me to get used to.

"So you're a chef?" Angelina said, directing a knife to cut four loaves of bread. "Professionally?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah. I own a restaurant and I'm the head chef there."

"I wish I was good at cooking," Hermione said. "I'm really bad… that's why Molly sticks me with the most mundane tasks."

"Well, one of the first things Ronald told me about your journey with Harry to find the Horcruxes was how the food was… unfavorable," said Molly, laughing.

Hermione grinned. "It was rather awful… when Ron and I got married, I worried about how we would feed our children."

"Is that why Rose and Hugo always eat so much at our house?" Angelina joked.

"It's the same story with us," Paige said, grinning at her eldest sister. "My kids always eat everything they can get their hands on at Piper's house – her food must taste extra good after eating the stuff my husband and I prepare for them."

"They'll love the food at Hogwarts," said Ginny earnestly. "It's the best. Well, after yours, Mum."

"Tell us about Hogwarts," I asked. "Do the kids live in dorms and stuff? And what kind of classes do they take? Is any of it general education, like math and science, or is it all magical?"

"It's all magical," Hermione explained, flicking her wand so that forty napkins folded themselves elegantly around forty sets of silverware. "And the students live in dormitories sorted by House."

"By House?" I repeated.

"There are four houses at Hogwarts," said Ginny, helping Hermione levitate the forty folded up napkins into two baskets to take outside. "Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Students are sorted into one of these four; there are different personality traits associated with each House."

"Like?" Paige prompted.

"Gryffindors are brave," said Angelina, "Ravenclaw intelligent, Hufflepuff loyal, and Slytherin ambitious. Some Houses have some untrue reputations but there's really nothing wrong with any of them."

"And you all went to Hogwarts, right?" All the woman nodded, except for Fluer.

"I went to a magic school een France," she said. "Beauxbatons. My cheeldren were all granted admission into both 'Ogwarts and Beauxbatons, but they all chose to attend 'Ogwarts."

"What House were you guys in?" I asked.

"Gryffindor," they all replied in unison.

"And your kids –"

"All Gryffindors," said Ginny proudly.

My sisters and I exchanged glances. "It seems like Gryffindor is the House to be in," Paige murmured.

"Once upon a time, it was thought that Gryffindor was the 'best' House," Hermione said, using air quotations. "But it really isn't. In the last few years, the Ministry has worked very hard to get rid of all the stereotypes on the Hogwarts Houses, because it got to a point where every person associated with certain Houses were labeled certain… things."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious to know everything about this magical world.

"Well, people would assume that _everyone_ in Ravenclaw was a snobby bookworm and Hufflepuffs were all cowards. But the worst stereotype was given to Slytherin," Hermione explained. "Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters all came from Slytherin and it was in Slytherin that all the 'pureblood' stuff started, so almost everyone sorted into Slytherin was viewed as evil. Just because some bad people came out of Slytherin didn't mean it was an evil House. The discrimination reached its peak while we were in school but it has been significantly reduced since then."

It was hard for me to comprehend what she was saying because so many of her words made no sense. Voldemort? Death Eater? That horrifying title chilled me to the bone. And what was 'pureblood' stuff?

Paige, never being the one to hold back, voiced her confusion right away. "Wait… what? Death Eaters? Voldemort? Pureblood?"

"Oh, right," said Ginny, glancing around. "I forgot. Kingsley never got a chance to explain everything to you."

"Well, at least we know we'll have conversation for the rest of the night!" said Audrey, smiling.

"It would probably be easiest to start with the pureblood epidemic," Angelina suggested.

"For a long time," began Ginny, "it was believed that wizards whose blood was supposedly 'pure' were better than wizards who were half-blood or Muggle-born."

"Pause," I interrupted. "Can someone please tell us what Muggle means? I thought it was a clothing brand."

"Erm, no," said Victoire, smiling slightly. "A Muggle is a non-magical person."

"Riiiiiight," said Paige. "That makes more sense… kind of. Anyway, carry on."

"A pureblood wizard is someone who comes from a magical family," Ginny explained. "A half-blooded wizard is someone with one magical parent and one Muggle parent, or one pureblood parent and one Muggle-born parent, like Harry. And a Muggle-born is someone who has two Muggle parents. And for ages and ages, pureblood wizards were thought by many to be superior to other wizards and Muggle-borns were at the bottom of the food chain. Then, the year when Voldemort had near complete control of the Ministry, Muggle-borns were prosecuted for supposedly 'stealing magic' from a real wizard and many of them went on the run."

Our jaws all dropped. "What?" Paige cried incredulously. "That's the most – ridiculous thing –"

"It was awful," said Hermione. "I'm a Muggle-born and I was already on the run when all of this happened. It's gotten much, much better, however. There was only ever a small group of people that thought this way – it's just that they gained power for a while and started to enforce these ridiculous laws. It's completely changed now, though. The Ministry works, to this day, very hard to make sure that none of this discrimination is still around. Of course, there will always be people that feel this way but none of them are in a position to influence masses of people anymore."

"Wow," was all I could say.

"This talk is too heavy for me to handle," said Piper, putting a hand to her head.

"I agree," said Molly, stepping back and supervising the other women's work. "Let's go back to talking about Hogwarts."

"I agree also," said Paige, sitting up straighter. "What kinds of classes do the kids take there?"

"There's Transfiguration, Potions," Hermione began to recite, "Herbology, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Astronomy. Well, the required ones, after all."

"In your third year, you can start taking elective classes," Ginny said. "Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, and Muggle Studies."

"I'm gonna be honest with you guys," said Paige sheepishly. "I don't know what half of those are about." Piper and I nodded in agreement.

Audrey chuckled. "Well, Transfiguration is the study of transforming one object into another. It's pretty difficult magic, which is why students take it for at least five years. Potions is, well, all about mixing different potions."

"Our kids would do well in that," said Piper, and Paige and I nodded.

"Herbology is the study of magical plants," Angelina continued. "History of Magic is pretty self-explanatory… just the history of magic. Defense Against the Dark Arts teaches students how to defend themselves from Dark Magic. Charms is all about how to perform different spells and they get progressively harder the older they get. And Astronomy is the study of the stars and the planets."

"This all sounds really interesting," Paige said, frowning. "I wish I'd been able to go to this school."

"What about the other classes? The electives?" I asked.

"Divination is like fortune-telling." Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's rather rubbish, really… I don't recommend taking it. Care of Magical Creatures is also pretty self-explanatory. Muggle Studies has actually become one of the most popular classes since the war. I'm not too sure why but I think it's good that students like to learn about how Muggles go about their lives without magic. Ancient Runes teaches you how to read ancient runes and translate them into English. And Arithmancy is generally the study of numerology."

"I agree, these all sound really interesting," I admitted.

"And then, of course, there's the new class," Hermione said carefully, watching my sisters and me out of the corner of her eye.

"What new class?" asked Molly curiously.

"The class that they'll teach," said Hermione. "A class on Wiccan magic."

"Wiccan magic?" Angelina said. "You mean, wandless magic?"

"There's a lot more to it than that," said Piper, a hint of irritation in her voice only detected by Paige and me.

"Of course there is," said Ginny. "That's why it'll be great to have this new class. So many wizards scoff at the idea of using incense and candles to perform ritualistic ceremonies… but you guys know better than us that it's very real."

Paige nodded in agreement. "That's true. And it might be good for our kids to go to Hogwarts so they know that waving wands isn't just some stereotype."

I smirked. "I'm sure we can all agree that riding on a broom is silly, though."

The Weasley women exchanged grinning glances. "I guess no one's explained Quidditch to you, then?" said Ginny.

Piper, Paige, and I looked at them with blank stares. "Qui-what?" said Paige.

"Later," said Molly, clapping her hands together. "Dinner is ready! Victoire, Dominique, can you go fetch the kids? Hermione, go on and get the men. The rest of you, help me bring dinner out. Not you three!" she cried suddenly, as Piper, Paige, and I made to stand up. "You just go out and sit down."

"Are you sure you don't want us to help at all?" Paige offered. "We'd be more than happy to –"

Molly held up a hand, silencing my younger sister. "I won't hear another word. You are our guests. Go on!"

A stream of Weasley and Halliwell men entered the kitchen on their way outside and my sisters and I decided to follow them outside rather than protest against Molly – it was unlikely anyone ever won an argument with her. I sat down between Coop and Piper, with Paige and Henry on Coop's other side and Leo next to Piper. The table seemed to go on for miles – it was built to seat forty, which meant nineteen people sat on each side and one person on either end. The Weasley men sat across from us, leaving spaces for their wives.

Hermione, Ginny, Angelina, Fleur, and Audrey all came outside, their wands levitating various dishes of food. Molly followed, looking over the shoulders of her daughter and daughters-in-law to oversee their work. After settling the food down on the table, the five women returned inside to fetch the rest.

Victoire and Dominique rounded the corner of the house, the Halliwell and Weasley children following close behind. The many children settled themselves around the table – Wyatt and Chris sat near a girl and three boys that looked around their ages, and Prue, Tamora, Kat, and Melinda were chatting animatedly with Lily and two other boys.

Once all the food had been served, the Weasley women took their seats as well and finally allowed the children to serve themselves. I opted to wait until everyone else had finished serving themselves before I got my food. As Coop reached for some roasted potatoes, I asked, "So, how was the firewhiskey?"

He made a face as he spooned food onto his plate. "Still burning."

Few words were spoken over the next few minutes as everyone dug into the feast. I was immensely surprised at how good the food tasted; I snuck a glance at Piper next to me and saw the slight surprise on her face as well. This is good. Perhaps Piper and Molly could bond over their love of cooking. Although, it seems that Piper has seemingly decided to move to Hogwarts in September – or, at least, resigned herself to the fact that she doesn't have much of a choice.

"So, kids," Molly said loudly over the clink of silverware on plates, "your owls from Hogwarts should be arriving in a few days."

The Weasley children all nodded. "Dad, when we go to Diagon Alley, can I get a new broom?" asked a boy with jet-black hair eagerly.

Harry rolled his eyes at his son. "James, we bought you the Lightning Strike for Christmas last year. What's wrong with it?"

"Well – nothing," the boy admitted, "but the new Lightning Strike 5000 is even _better_ –!"

"James," warned Ginny. "We're not buying you a new broom."

"They should buy _me_ a new broom," Lily cut in. "I'm finally old enough to try out for the House team and I'll need something better than your old Cruiser, James."

"Hey, I've got a Cruiser!" the boy next to James said. "There's nothing wrong with it!"

"Enough!" cried Molly, ending the squabble.

"So you guys actually play sports while riding broomsticks?" Paige asked, in awe. "That's so crazy! I can't wait to see a game!"

"You can watch the games at Hogwarts!" said Angelina earnestly. "They're really exciting. And the Gryffindor team is pretty much dominated by us. Fred's a Beater, James is a Chaser, and Rose is Keeper."

"I'm a Chaser reserve!" a black girl cried. "I'll probably make the team this year, too, because Dominique graduated."

"And I'm trying out for Seeker!" Lily piped up.

"Good luck, Lil," said James snidely. "Keith McLaggen is a seventh-year and just because we know Oliver, Sabrina Wood isn't going to give you the position of Seeker."

"Well, I can be Seeker next year, then," Lily shot back.

"Lily, you can fly better than Keith McLaggen," Ron said loudly. "I look forward to seeing you take the position of Seeker right from under his nose."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "_Ron_."

"Hate to break it to you guys," I said, "but we don't know what any of this means."

"I wish we had more interesting things to tell you guys about _our_ magic," Paige said. "But we don't come from an all-magical world like you guys do. We live among normal people and have to hide our magic."

"I'm sure you do!" Molly said enthusiastically. "If you didn't, there wouldn't be a new Hogwarts class about it!"

"Yeah, about that," Paige murmured, glancing at Piper and me. "How are we going to be able to teach a class?"

"You guys can do it," Coop said assuredly. "Paige, you meet with new charges all the time and are able to educate them about being witches or Whitelighters. And Phoebe, you have a Masters in Psychology. Piper, your husband is a teacher and you know every potion by heart. I'm sure teaching will come naturally to you all."

"Let's hope so," said Piper. "The last thing I need is to move to this school and be a _bad_ teacher."

Ginny looked across the table to her mother. "I wonder if their kids will get owls about Hogwarts."

"I'm sure they will," Hermione said, cutting up her food. "They are attending, after all – right?" she said, glancing up at us.

Paige and I share a quick glance – Piper has been acting as if she's decided to go, but she had yet to give a straight answer. We look to her and she simply chewed her food silently. After swallowing, she said, "It's a possibility."

I know my sister all too well – she's too proud to say, "Yes, we're going," even though we most likely are.

"Well, when your kids get letters for Hogwarts, you _must_ let us know," said Molly eagerly. "We can take you to Diagon Alley to get all their supplies – since, I'm sure, you don't know how to get there."

"We don't even know what it is," said Paige.

"That's what we're here for!" Molly said happily, beaming around. "We'll probably take you through the Muggle way – Flooing may be too much for your first foray into the magical community."

Flooing? I smiled. "I don't think I need to even say it."


	4. Chapter 4

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 4

**-Wyatt-**

Following our dinner at the Weasleys, a few things were made clear – we were going to Hogwarts (even though my mom didn't actually say those words out loud; she would just say things about how she was hiring extra help at the restaurant, and she needed to get around calling my and Chris's school and Melinda's school), and all the Halliwells were excited about it.

My cousins were constantly talking about how they couldn't wait to go to the magic school and try that weird broomstick sport, they were excited to see which House they would be sorted into, and they already loved their new Weasley friends. I couldn't really complain. After all, I'd never really fit in at my high school and there weren't many people I would miss there. Molly and Fred were nice enough and I wouldn't mind spending my year with them. Too bad I missed going to school with Dominique by a year, though.

Chris couldn't wait, although he tried to make himself sound less excited than he was. I know Chris better than anyone, so even when he would scoff after listening to our cousins chatter away about Hogwarts, I could tell it was forced. I also nearly caught him reading the book that Hermione Weasley had given to our parents in case any of us were curious about Hogwarts. It was called _Hogwarts, A History_ and Hermione claimed it was one of the most useful books she had read in school. I'd skimmed it, but it wasn't all that interesting to me. However, I spied the familiar cover sticking out from underneath Chris's nightstand one afternoon.

A few days after the dinner, Mom, Dad, Chris, Melinda, and I were eating a quiet breakfast in the conservatory, my parents reading the paper and Melinda reading the back of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal box, when a brown, scruffy owl flew into the room, dropped a small stack of letters in the middle of the table, and took off again.

It all happened so fast that my mom didn't even have time to freeze anything. The falling letters made a startling sound as they landed on the butter dish, causing us all to jump. Dad reached for the stack curiously; there were four envelopes bound together by a string. He removed the string from around the letters and read the addresses: "This one's for you, Piper." He handed it over. "This one's for Wyatt… Chris… and Melinda."

Mom smirked over at Dad as she accepted hers. "Sorry, Leo. I guess spouses of the employees don't get formally invited to live at the school. You're just my plus one."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

The envelope was addressed to one Mr. W. Halliwell, Conservatory, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California. I glanced around, feeling like I was underneath a gigantic magnifying glass.

Inside, there were three sheets of some kind of strange paper – it was an off-white color and felt thicker than normal paper. The first letter was short and to the point: underneath a logo that read "HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITHCRAFT and WIZARDRY," the name Antonius Ulvaeous, and a list of his honors, were two small paragraphs:

"Dear Mr. Halliwell,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardly. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Filius Flitwick,  
><em>Deputy Headmaster<em>"

I looked up and glanced over at Chris and Melinda, both of whom looked just as astounded as I did. I leaned over to read Melinda's, and saw that her letter was the same as mine, except it was addressed to Miss Halliwell instead.

"I didn't realize it was so formal," Chris said.

I set down the letter and picked up the second piece of strange paper. It included the same Hogwarts logo on the top, followed by a long list of materials needed for the school year.

"Three sets of plain work robes, black," I read aloud. Chris and Melinda both picked up their supplies' lists as well. "One plain pointed hat, black. One pair of protective gloves, dragon hide. One winter cloak, black with silver fastenings." I looked up and raised my eyebrows. "We have to wear _robes_?"

"_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 3)_," Melinda read from her book list.

"Hold up, I have grade 5," Chris said, checking her list.

"I have grade 7," I said.

Chris looked up at me. "So I have to jump in right to grade 5? Won't I be really far behind?"

"I'll be more behind," I said, frowning.

"_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot,_ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander," Melinda continued reading. She giggled. "Why do wizards all have weird names?"

"We also need one telescope," Chris said, scanning the equipment list, "one cauldron, pewter, standard size two – what the hell does that mean? – one set glass or crystal phials, one set of brass scales, and an owl OR a cat OR a toad," he finished, over-accentuating the "or's."

"That's a lot of material," said Dad.

Mom scratched her chin. "I didn't think about how far behind the kids will be."

"Well, when it comes to wand magic, it won't matter if they're far behind," Dad reminded her. "They can't use wand magic."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Why are we sending them here again? If they can't even participate in half the classes…"

"Judging from this class list," I butted in, "the only classes we can't really do anything in are Charms and Transfiguration. But the rest don't involve wand magic at all. Like Herbology, Potions, and History of Magic."

Mom scowled as she read over her own letter. "This is just telling me that Paige, Phoebe and I will be teaching a new class on Wiccan magic," she said, setting it down. "We're gonna have to get together sometime soon to develop a lesson plan." She sighed deeply. "This is gonna be a lot of work."

I glanced down at my list of books again. In addition to all the basic classes I was taking (Hermione had taken all of us aside and explained to Chris, Melinda, and me that since we were all at least in year three, we were allowed to take electives, and she allowed us to choose which ones. She also told me that, usually, wizards in year seven had to pass a really hard test in order to continue taking classes past year six, but that I was an exception and could take whichever ones I wanted), I also needed books for Ancient Runes (Hermione had spoken very highly about this class), Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination (Hermione had tried to talk me out of this one). Chris had decided on Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures, and Melinda chose Divination, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures.

"This is going to cost a small fortune," Mom said, listening as we rattled off our necessary books.

I then picked up the third sheet of paper, nearly forgetting it was there. The sheet was a permission form, detailing how students in their third years and above are allowed visits to a nearby village called Hogsmeade on certain weekends and that we need a parent or guardian to sign permission.

Before I could tell my parents about it, we were interrupted by a swarm of blue and white lights; Aunt Paige orbed in, holding in her hand a couple of letters. "Did you get these too?" she asked, brandishing the paper.

"You mean the letter about us teaching?" Mom asked.

Aunt Paige nodded. "Yeah. And Tamora, Kat, and Henry got letters about going to school."

"We got them, too," Melinda said, waving hers around.

"I can't believe how much stuff they have to buy!" Aunt Paige cried. "I didn't realize so many things were needed! And all these books!" Frowning, she said, "By the way, how come magical people always have such weird names? Like Phyllida Spore and Arsenius Jigger and Quentin Trimble."

"Hm." Mom glanced down at her own letter. "It says here that all students, years one through seven, will be required to take our class. But we didn't tell them to have students get a certain book, did we?"

Aunt Paige shook her head. "No. At least, I didn't. Did Phoebe, maybe?"

"It seems like it," I said, glancing down at the last book on the list. "_Complete Encyclopedia of Demons_, author unknown," I read.

"I didn't notice that one before," Aunt Paige said, glancing over the book list again. "But yeah, there it is. Weird. Is that book in stock in wand magic book stores?" she asked dubiously.

"Well, Phoebe probably gave them her copy," Mom said, "and more copies were printed." She scratched her chin again. "That was a good idea. But I think it'll also be a good idea if, for some lessons, we make the students copies of pages out of the Book of Shadows. Obviously we can't publish the Book or bring it to class, but there are a lot of useful potions in there."

"I agree," Aunt Paige said, nodding. She looked down at her own letter and reread a section of it. "So it says here that we won't live in the castle, but in some village called Hogsmeade. What is that? Is it far from the school?"

Mom looked at Aunt Paige. "Paige, you know that I know as little as you do. I have absolutely no idea. I'm sure it isn't too far away, or else we wouldn't be living there."

Aunt Paige shrugged. "Well, I'm just glad we won't be living at the school."

"Me too," Chris said and Mom sent him a look.

"Don't think you'll be able to break too many rules just because we aren't living there," she said.

"That's the village we're allowed to visit on some weekends," I said, holding up the permission form. "You guys have to sign that we can go."

Aunt Paige frowned. "The twins and Henry didn't get that."

"It says it's for year threes and above," Chris said, reading it.

"So, what, does that mean they can never come see us?" Aunt Paige demanded irritably.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Paige, I'm sure they'll get special privileges because we'll be _living_ there."

Frowning, Aunt Paige said, "Yeah… you're right." She sighed heavily. "Well, I should be getting back. I left Henry to deal with three overjoyed kids, which is sometimes worse than three crying kids. I'll see you guys later. And we'll have to figure out how to get in touch with the Weasleys so they can take us to this alley place. The owl that delivered our letters flew away, so…"

"We can probably just orb over there," Mom said.

Aunt Paige nodded and pointed at her. "And that is why you're the oldest." Smiling and waving, she orbed out.

**-Harry-**

The day came for Ginny and I to take James, Al, and Lily to Diagon Alley for their school supplies. We were to go in the afternoon with George and Angelina, late enough so that the Halliwell family could accompany us without having to go in the middle of the night (their time). Normally we would go in the morning, as it is less crowded at that time and it gets it out of the way, so the children were simply milling around Grimmauld Place, bored, until we could go.

Lily passed part of her time by practicing some flying in the backyard with my apparently-ancient Firebolt (although I still maintain that it is the best broom out there). However, there was only so much practicing she could get in, as we live in a Muggle neighborhood and, if she flies too high, she could be spotted. It's amazing to me that children who have access to so much magic can _still_ find nothing to do. When I was little, if I'd had magic to entertain me, I wouldn't have known where to begin.

George and Angelina arrived at around two-thirty; the Halliwells were set to arrive at three. James, Fred, and Roxanne immediately retreated to James's room. Fred and James were both very much like their namesakes. The two would spend hours in one another's rooms, doing God knows what. Despite their two year age difference, they got along well. Roxanne, as well, is very much like her father when it comes to humor, although in comparison to her brother and James, she is more mellow and complacent and more of a rule-abider (although her record is not perfect).

Down in the kitchen, Kreacher served Ginny, Angelina, George, and I some hot tea as we waited for the time to pass. "So why aren't Ron and Hermione coming with us again?" George asked.

"They went yesterday," I explained, "because this morning they left to go visit Hermione's parents for a few days."

"Right, right," George nodded. "You know, I've still only met Hermione's parents twice, once at that time in Diagon Alley before my fourth year and then at Ron and Hermione's wedding. How come they never come to the Burrow for dinner once in a while? Angie's and Audrey's parents come over a lot. We even see more of the Delacours and they live in France!"

Ginny shrugged. "Probably because they're Muggles. I don't know how comfortable they ever were with magic."

"Every time I've met them, they seem apprehensive," I added in agreement.

"I don't get it," George muttered.

I chuckled. "It could be worse. They could be like the Dursleys."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Thank God they're not."

"Harry, did you say that Perce was going to be in Diagon Alley today also?" asked George.

"Yeah, but I dunno if we'll see them," said Harry. "Percy said they were going earlier in the day. We may catch them as they're leaving."

Suddenly, we all heard a strange noise from above us – followed by a loud thud, a high-pitched, "Ouch!" and a "Paige!"

George furrowed his brow. "Is that –?"

Ginny smirked. "I guess they're here."

The four of us jogged up the stairs to the main hallway of the house, where the three Charmed Ones were with seven of their children. All of them were on the floor near the wall.

"Since when did you suck at orbing?" grumbled Piper, standing up and pulling Melinda with her.

"I'd like to see you try it sometime," Paige retorted, helping her son up. "Orbing is only hard when I'm going somewhere I've never been before."

"What happened?" Angelina asked and the witches all jumped, not realizing we were there.

Laughing lightly, Phoebe said, "Paige orbed us into the wall."

Paige folded her arms across her chest and scowled. "This is the first time I've messed up orbing in twenty years. I'm allowed one mistake every other decade!"

"Your family seems considerably smaller than before," George observed.

Piper glanced around. "Yeah, well. We decided it would be a little obnoxious if all fifteen of us came. Leo, Coop, and Henry stayed home with the little kids that are too young to attend Hogwarts."

"It's a good thing we left so early in the morning," Phoebe said. "We get to miss out on the temper tantrums."

"That was a good idea," remarked Angelina. "Diagon Alley is rather narrow, so the less people, the better."

Ginny walked over to the bottom of the staircase and shouted up, "James, Al, Lily, Fred, Roxy, time to go!"

A stampede sounded above our heads and a moment later the five kids had joined us.

"So, Dad, am I getting a new broom today?" Lily asked breathlessly, tugging on my arm.

"Lily, I already told you," I sighed. "You have a Cruiser."

Lily frowned. "But James has a –"

I bent down to her level and put my hands on her shoulders. "I got my first broom after I made the House team, as did James. So I'll make you a deal – if you make the Gryffindor team, I'll buy you a new broom. Okay?"

The little red-haired girl broke into a wide smile. "Okay!"

It was decided that the fastest mode of transportation would be to orb – side-along Apparition was out of the question, the Knight Bus would take too long at this time of day, and Ginny and I didn't think that the Halliwells were ready to be exposed to Flooing. The Halliwells would orb us to an alleyway on Charing Cross Road so that we could take them through the Muggle entrance of The Leaky Cauldron.

Paige orbed the adults, while Wyatt orbed the children. I swayed on the spot as my feet hit solid ground after the orb and I wondered how long it would take for me to get used to it. George and Angelina were less composed and had to lean on the brick wall of the alley way to steady themselves. However, there was no chance for the kids. James, Al, Lily, Fred, and Roxy all ended up on the ground.

**-Melinda-**

"Sorry!" cried Wyatt, although he was half-laughing. Chris was snickering also. We all bent down and helped up the Potter children while Aunt Paige peeked around the corner.

"No one saw," she declared. "Shall we go?"

Harry Potter and his wife led the way, along with George and Angelina Weasley. My mom and Aunt Paige and Phoebe followed close behind, and us kids all brought up the rear.

I was beaming and walking with a spring in my step. "I'm so excited!" I said for about the eighth time that day. "I can't wait to buy all my stuff and read all the books about this place and – just everything!"

Albus Potter smiled at me. "You're funny."

Shooting him a look, I demanded, "Why?"

Almost frightened by my tone, he blinked and said, "Oh, I – I don't know. Just 'cause you're so excited."

"Well, I didn't grow up in this world," I said. "There's so many things about this place that I don't know yet and I can't wait to learn it all!" My heart rate spiked at the very thought. After this trip, I would finally get some answers to the thousands of questions that I've had since Mom told me about this place. "I just wish I could use a wand," I added dejectedly.

"I wish I could use power through my hands," Albus said.

"Touché," I amended, nodding.

"So…" he said slowly, "what kind of power can you do?"

I grinned at him. I knew this question had to be coming. "I can freeze, move things with my hands, and see the future," I said proudly.

Albus gaped. "Wow… can I see?"

Mom had warned me not to put my powers on display as if I was "something to ogle at in a zoo." So I said, "Sorry Albus, not right now. But trust me… you'll see them soon enough."

"This is it?" I heard my mom's voice. We had all stopped walking and were standing in the middle of the street.

"This is it," Harry said. "The Leaky Cauldron."

I looked straight ahead. I didn't see anything. We were standing in between a book store and a record store and neither of them was called The Leaky Cauldron. As I glanced back and forth, I suddenly noticed a small pub situated between the two stores. I stared, my mouth open. I could have sworn that that was not there before.

"Let's go." Ginny beckoned us all to follow her, while my brothers, my cousins, and I stared in shock.

We entered the small, brightly lit pub. The place was filled with smoke from various occupants smoking out of pipes; many of the tables and booths were occupied, as well as the bar. A red-haired woman was standing behind the bar, using her wand to direct a rag to clean some glasses.

"Good afternoon, Hannah," Harry said as we made our way through the cramped pub.

The woman behind the bar smiled at us. "Harry! How are you? Taking a late trip to Diagon Alley this year? You may see Neville; he's out and about today."

"Thank you, Hannah," smiled Ginny. Harry and George hurriedly ushered us out the back of the pub as the woman named Hannah was eyeing us curiously. Ginny and Angelina followed from behind as we reached a small courtyard behind the pub.

"We have to avoid prying questions as much as we can," said Harry. "If the whole of Diagon Alley finds out that The Charmed Ones are here –"

"We'll barely get anything done," finished Ginny.

Harry took out his wand and began tapping bricks on the wall at the back of the courtyard. I saw Mom raise her eyebrows and stare at Harry, clearly thinking the same thing I was (that he must be crazy and this can't be magic). However, after a moment he stood back and the brick wall began to move. The bricks shifted and rotated slowly until eventually there was an entryway through the brick wall. Through the threshold was a very crowded and narrow cobblestone walkway, with small shops on either side of the road. The people that were walking on the street were all wearing long robes and some even had on pointed hats – I almost wanted to laugh. In any other context I would have but because this was _real_ – I couldn't.

"This is Diagon Alley," said Harry, his voice raised slightly so we could hear him over the noise of the crowd.

"Whoa," said Henry and that summed up my feelings exactly.

"We'll have to go to Gringotts first," Ginny said. "We have to make a withdrawal and you guys will have to convert your American money to wizard money."

"Wizard money?" I repeated. Albus grinned at me.

**-Albus-**

It took us a good thirty minutes to get through our trip to Gringotts. Dad, Uncle George, James, and Fred went with a goblin to their bank accounts to withdraw some money for the trip, while Mum, Aunt Angelina, Lily, Roxy, and I stayed behind to help the Halliwells trade their money to wizard money.

When the goblin behind the desk took their bills and shoved a pile of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in front of them, they all just stared.

"What is this?" Paige stated finally. "What do these… mean? How does it work? What is this?" she repeated.

Mum chuckled. "The gold ones are Galleons, the silver ones are Sickles, and Knuts are the bronze ones. There are twenty-nine Knuts in one Sickle and seventeen Sickles to one Galleon."

"That's it?" said Piper, as Phoebe and Paige shoveled their money into their purses. "That's so much simpler than our money system."

Once everyone had reunited with their money, Mum decided that it would be a good idea to start at Flourish and Blotts.

"What's that?" asked Melinda loudly.

"It's the bookstore here," explained Mum, leading the way.

Melinda turned to me, beaming. "Awesome!"

"So do you like reading or something?" I joked.

"A little bit," she grinned. "I mean, I do like reading, but I'm so excited to read _these_ books, because –"

"I know, I know," I said, "you already told me."

When we reached the bookstore, Mum paired us all up so that the Halliwells could find their books faster. Fred with Wyatt, James with Chris and Henry, Lily with Prue, Roxy with Tamora and Kat, and Melinda with me; we all split up to cover as much ground as possible.

First, I picked up my books, Melinda trailing behind me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Once I had finished, I grabbed her book list and glanced over it. Since this was her first year at Hogwarts, she had to get all of her main books, as well as her elective books. "So you're taking Divination, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures?" I said.

She nodded. "Are those any good?"

"Care of Magical Creatures is," I responded. "Hagrid teaches it – he's a good family friend. I've heard Arithmancy is hard and Divination – well, I've heard mixed opinions."

Melinda peered over my shoulder at the book list. "Which book is the Divination book?" She scratched her chin. "I can't tell which books go with which subjects."

I chuckled. "Just follow me."

I led her to the fortune-telling section, picking out the book _Unfogging the Future_. "This is the Divination textbook," I explained. She grabbed it and immediately started flipping through it. "Here's _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_, for Herbology," I said a moment later. "_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ is for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

We made our way slowly throughout the store, picking out all of Melinda's required textbooks as we went: _The Standard Books of Spells (Grade 3) _for Charms (she experienced a mild freak-out when realizing that she would be reading book 3 before books 1 and 2, so to keep her from purchasing them, I promised her that she could borrow my books for grades 1 and 2); _Numerology and Grammatica_ and _Book of Numerology_, both for Arithmancy; _Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them_ for Care of Magical Creatures; _A History of Magic_ for History of Magic; _Magical Drafts and Potions_ for Potions; _Intermediate Transfiguration_ for Transfiguration; and _Complete Encyclopedia of Demons_ for the new Wicca class.

Once Melinda had all eleven books balanced in her arms, her face glowed. I don't think I have ever seen anyone so excited to buy books before, except maybe my cousin Rose. Uncle Ron tells me that Aunt Hermione was like Rose when she was little, except more exaggerated, but I just can't see it.

We found my parents, Uncle George, Aunt Angelina, and The Charmed Ones at the front of the store. They were all holding copies of _Complete Encyclopedia of Demons_ and glanced up as we approached. Piper's jaw dropped at the sight of her daughter with eleven large books.

"Good lord, we have to buy all these?" she exclaimed. Within the next minute, Chris, James, Henry, Wyatt, and Fred had all reunited with us, and both Wyatt and Chris had enormous stacks of books as well. "You guys are lucky you only have one kid going to Hogwarts," grumbled Piper to Phoebe, with Paige nodding in agreement, as Prue, Tamora, and Kat teetered over with their own book stacks.

Piper flat-out refused to let Melinda buy any more books than the eleven that she was required, but after we'd paid and were leaving the store, Melinda said that she didn't really mind. "I have eleven books to read by the time school starts," she confessed, "and that's more than enough. Well – actually, just ten. I don't need to read _Complete Encyclopedia of Demons_ because I know everything about it."

Melinda went through similar excitement spasms, although not as intense, with every store we went to. She quite enjoyed getting a cauldron and a telescope and _really_ enjoyed buying her Hogwarts robes. I have honestly never seen anyone that happy to buy three sets of boring, black robes. She laughed as she picked out a pointed hat, remarking that she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to wear it with a straight face. She kept running her hand over her dragon hide gloves and explained that she'd never felt anything quite like it before.

After getting all of our necessities out of the way (the Halliwells were all struggling to carry their numerous bags and packages, while my siblings, cousins, and I just had our new books), Dad said we could take a quick look around Quality Quidditch Supplies.

I was the odd one out when it came to flying in my family. After all, my dad is a Quidditch legend at Hogwarts, being the youngest seeker in a hundred years and leading the Gryffindor team to victory on a number of occasions. And Mum was a professional Quidditch player for a few years and now writes about Quidditch for _The Daily Prophet_. James is a Chaser for the team, and Lily is on track to join the team this year as well.

I, however, have never been that interested in Quidditch. I've been flying since I could walk – that's pretty much a necessity in this family – and I'm alright at it, but I just don't see the fun in Quidditch. Never have, never will. I grew up playing scrimmages with my siblings and cousins, and I knew from the first time I played that I didn't really like it. I'm not the only one, though. Hugo, Lucy, Molly Victoire, and Louis aren't big Quidditch players either. The Quidditch players of the family – James, Roxy, Fred, Rose, Dominique, and Lily – tend to pick on the non-players.

I wondered which group Melinda would fall into, the players or the non-players. If I was a betting man (and I should be, because I'm told I'm good at reading people), I would say that Chris and Prue would be the Quidditch players, and Wyatt and Henry would be non-players. Tamora and Kat are pretty quiet, so I'm not too sure what they were interested in. I was also torn about Melinda. She definitely had enough energy to fit in on a House team and she seemed like she would want to explore every single aspect of the wand-wielding world, including Quidditch. But that doesn't mean she could actually play the game.

"Whoa," breathed Melinda and Chris in unison as we walked in. Chris immediately made a beeline for the Lightning Strike 5000, the newest model out. Wyatt looked unimpressed, but Prue admired the broom from over Chris's shoulder.

"Mom, can I get a broom?" asked Chris.

"No, you may not," snapped Piper. "Chris, you've never used one before. Do we even know if you'll be able to use a magical broom?"

My mum nodded. "Yes, Muggles can use them, so I'm sure you will be able to."

"So, can I?" Chris asked again.

"No!" said Piper. "You've never flown before. How about this: if you learn to fly and make the sports team at the school, I'll buy you a broom. You get the same deal as the Potter kids."

"Okay!" accepted Chris.

"Same for me?" asked Melinda.

"Sure," said Piper.

"You wanna learn to fly?" I asked.

She nodded enthusiastically. "It's probably _so cool_!"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I'm not that good, though."

"That's okay," she said. "I probably won't be either. I just wanna learn. Can you teach me?" she asked, beaming.

"Me?" I repeated, as Mum and Dad started ushering us out of there, before James and Lily attempted to hide the brooms behind their backs and walk out of the store with them. Piper and Phoebe as well pried their children away from the brooms and Dad led us the Magical Menagerie.

"Sure! Why not?"

"Well…" I stammered. "James and Lily are a lot better than me –"

Melinda laughed. "I told you, Albus, I don't care about being good. You can fly, right?" I nodded. "Then I want you to teach me."

I blinked. "Okay."

She smiled triumphantly and then looked around as we entered the Magical Menagerie. She gasped loudly. "Mom!" she cried, stalking over to a fluffy, white cat. "I want this one!"

Piper sighed and clicked her tongue. "Mel."

"Please, Mom?" she begged. "What other animal am I gonna get? A rat? A toad? An owl? What do I need an owl for?"

"So you can send letters to your parents while you're at school?" suggested Mum cheekily.

"But Mom's gonna be teaching there and living in some Hogs-village near the school!" exclaimed Melinda. "Oh, please Mom, I want this cat!"

"Well, if Melinda gets a cat," said Chris, "I want an owl."

"What do you need an owl for?" Piper exclaimed.

Smiling innocently at his mother, Chris replied, "To send letters to my parents while I'm at school?"

Piper glared at Wyatt. "What do you want?"

Wyatt shrugged. "Nothing. I don't need a pet."

"Mom," came Prue's serious voice. "I. Want. _This_!" She pointed at a Puffskein.

"Mom!" cried Tamora and Kat together.

Piper turned to my dad and sighed. "Thanks for bringing us here."

A half hour later, we were ready to leave Diagon Alley. Four Halliwell girls, and Chris, had a new pet: Melinda, the white cat that she had cleverly christened Snowy; Chris, a small owl that he named Elf, after much probing from the girls; Tamora and Kat, a cream-colored rat that they named Delilah; and Prue, a Puffskein that she called Timothy. Wyatt maintained that he did not want a pet and Henry agreed with him, although Melinda said it was probably because Henry worshipped Wyatt and would do everything he said.

We bustled out through The Leaky Cauldron, past a staring Hannah and all the curious stares of other patrons back to Muggle London and Charing Cross Road. We reentered the alley that Paige and Wyatt had orbed us to before; they first orbed us back to Grimmauld Place before orbing themselves home.


	5. Chapter 5

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 5

**-Chris-**

I'll admit it. I have been counting down the days until September 1st for the last five weeks. Melinda, I think, is the most excited. She read all of her textbooks within a couple weeks and spent the rest of her time reading _Hogwarts, A History_ and flipping through my textbooks and Wyatt's and Prue's and Tamora's and Kat's and Henry's. I don't think I need to guess which one of us will be most prepared for the school year.

Melinda and I also agreed that we couldn't wait to learn how to fly. We corresponded with the Weasley and Potter families through Elf and their many family owls, and one of the letters that Albus wrote to Melinda mentioned that flying lessons are only given to first years. James, however, promised to teach me, although I was a little nervous about that. James has been playing on the Gryffindor team for three years, so I had a feeling he would be pretty hard on me.

We haven't seen the Weasley and Potter family since the trip to Diagon Alley, mostly because of the time change and because we've all been so busy. Harry and Ron are something called Aurors at the wizarding government – I think James called it the Ministry of Magic – and they've been busy dealing with the new information of the wandless magical world. The rest of James's aunts and uncles have been busy with their various jobs as well. And my mom has been busy with the restaurant, getting it ready for her year-long leave of absence, making sure everyone knows how to reach her if anything goes seriously wrong and training all the new managers.

We did get a visit from Filius Flitwick, however – the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. He was very short, bald, and tiny, and Penny thought that his size made it okay for her to attempt to climb all over him.

He informed my parents, aunts, and uncles that there were two houses for them to stay in Hogsmeade village, which is the village right near Hogwarts. It's about a ten minute walk from the village to the castle, he said. It was later decided among the adults that Aunt Phoebe, Uncle Coop, Patty, and Penny would get the bigger house, while Aunt Paige, Mom, and Dad would get the smaller one. Uncle Henry would be remaining in San Francisco to work; however, Aunt Paige would orb home on some weekends to see him, and apparently he has a lot of vacation days saved up, so there will be a two or three week period down the road where he'll come and stay in Hogsmeade for a while.

Patty and Penny are very upset that they won't be able to go to Hogwarts with us – especially Patty, because she turns eleven in October, so she's only one month too young.

"Mom, can't I _please_ go?" she would beg Aunt Phoebe on multiple occasions, calling for the same explanation every time – she was simply too young and could not go.

"Maybe next year," Aunt Phoebe would say.

Mom, Aunt Phoebe, and Aunt Paige spent a lot of time planning their curriculum, often letting Wyatt, Melinda, and I help. They were constantly flipping through _Complete Encyclopedia of Demons_ and marking pages with color coded slips of paper: the pages marked by red were the really important demons that _needed_ to be covered, the pages with yellow were less mandatory but still important, and the green pages were demons that could perhaps all be lumped into one or two lessons. They made notes on potions that they would teach students, and some potions that they would just talk about, such as the potion to Stop the Heart Beating and the Love Potion. They made a list of all the ingredients they would need to bring with them and just how much they would need. It seemed to take forever and it made me glad that I was not the one teaching it.

We all started regular communication with the many Weasleys and Potters, striking up friendships that would be helpful to us while at school. I corresponded mostly with James. Wyatt talked with Fred and Molly; Melinda with Albus and Rose; Tamora and Kat with Rose and Lily; and Prue and Henry both with Hugo and Lily. All of the Weasleys and Potters were in Gryffindor house at Hogwarts, and I made it my goal to be put into that house as well. I didn't know what I would have to go to get into Gryffindor house, but I was going to try anyway.

We ended up orbing to Grimmauld Place on August 31st in the middle of the night, our time, so that we would be tired enough to go to sleep on time. We slept all day the day before, and orbed to the Potter house at four in the morning on August 31st, making it noon in England. Even though we were kind of disoriented and tired, we were too excited to go to sleep.

Harry and Ginny had bought us all trunks to put our Hogwarts supplies in. Wyatt and I dumped all of our stuff in James's room and slowly filled and organized our trunks. James's trunk was at the foot of his bed, still basically packed from his previous years at the school, except for a few things – like his broom. It lay on top of the trunk, as if the boy planned on using it between that point in time and the next morning when we left for the train station.

That night, a disgusting little thing called Kreacher (a house-elf, apparently) cooked us a delicious dinner and afterwards, Ginny said we should all go to sleep as the train left at eleven in the morning.

Wyatt and I slept on the floor in James's room; Melinda, Prue, Tamora, and Kat slept with Lily and little Henry slept with Albus. Mom and Dad slept in the guest room, while Uncle Coop, Aunt Phoebe, Aunt Paige, Penny, and Patty slept in the drawing room.

We were roused abruptly at nine the next morning by Harry knocking loudly on the door. James groaned and threw a pillow at the door, but Harry's knocking continued until James finally stumbled out of his bed and, blearily wiping his eyes, opened the door.

"Oh good!" said Harry cheerfully. "You're awake!"

James dressed himself drowsily, but Wyatt and I were wide awake. We had gone to sleep right away the night before and were too excited to be tired. We were dressed and completely packed before James had even finished putting on his sweater. Deciding that we no longer wanted to repress our powers around this magical world, like our mother had advised us to do, we used our hands to levitate our trunks and Elf's cage down the many stairs of Grimmauld Place instead of lugging them.

Everyone else in our family was already in the main hallway by the time we got there. Melinda, Prue, Tamora, Kat, and Henry had their trunks and animal cages with them, while our parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins had their suitcases. Harry and Ginny were bustling back and forth from James's room to Albus's and to Lily's, making sure they packed everything and were ready in time. Finally, the Potter kids ambled down the stairs with their trunks, brooms, and owls, still yawning.

It was decided that, again, Paige and Wyatt would orb everyone to a deserted area of King's Cross station – the station from where the Hogwarts Express boarded. After we all board the train, Harry and Ginny would just transport themselves home through "Apparition," I think they called it.

After we materialized at the station, Harry and Ginny grabbed nine trolleys for us to load our stuff on to before leading us through the platforms. Apparently we were supposed to get to platform nine and three-quarters, although we walked along and I only saw platforms nine and ten, so I wasn't sure what was going on.

"Alright, here we are!" said Ginny, as she, Harry, and her children suddenly stopped.

We were facing a very solid brick wall. I glanced at Wyatt, who stared right back.

"Is this a joke?" I said blankly.

"Of course not!" cried Ginny.

"All you have to do," explained Harry, "is walk straight at the brick wall. It'll transport you to platform nine and three-quarters."

"Okay, this _is_ a joke," scoffed Mom.

"Is this one of those things that only wizards can do?" asked Aunt Phoebe. "Because if so… will we be able to do it, since we're different types of witches?"

"I'm sure you will," said Ginny. "If anything, Kingsley will have fixed it so you can. They would have thought this ahead."

My family and I still glanced at each other uneasily. We were all thinking the same thing – which one of us will be the guinea pig?

James demonstrated first; he took his trolley and, starting from a good twenty feet from the wall, broke into a run straight toward it. I winced as he reached it, but instead of crashing, he vanished through it. We all gaped after him.

Albus and Lily then went through with their trolleys. Harry and Ginny turned to us, and Ginny said, "You're next!"

No one moved for a moment, and then, finally, I stepped forward. "I'll go."

My heart was beating hard in my chest as I gripped my trolley tightly. What if this didn't work? Well, I reasoned with myself, the worse that can happen is I receive a mild concussion and am extremely embarrassed in front of these passersby.

Deciding not to think about it for too long, I just started to sprint. I closed my eyes the nearer the wall came, not wanting to see myself crash –

However, the crash never came, and I opened my eyes to see a large, steaming red and black train, and a thick crowd full of young witches and wizards and their families. James, Albus, and Lily were off to the side, waiting for me.

"You did it!" said Lily.

"See? It wasn't so hard!" added James.

A few moments later, the rest of my family had joined us. It had taken a while for Aunt Phoebe to convince Patty and Penny to run at the seemingly-solid wall, but eventually they succeeded.

"Come on, let's get our stuff on the train," James said. "We can get a compartment and then find everyone else."

James led us onto the train and we pushed our way through the crowded hallways until we found two empty compartments. James, Albus, Wyatt, Melinda, and I shoved our trunks into one compartment while Lily, Henry, Prue, Tamora, and Kat claimed the other, and then we hopped back off the train.

**-Wyatt-**

"You guys have two compartments up front," Harry was saying to Mom and everyone else when we reached them. "Away from the students."

"Oh, good," Mom said in relief.

Ginny glanced around. "Where is everyone? Late, as usual…"

"We are most definitely not!" came an indignant voice.

Ron, Hermione, Rose, and Hugo appeared at Harry's elbow, Rose and Hugo without their trunks.

"Perce, George, and Bill are further down," Ron said. "The kids are all getting on the train right now."

Rose and Hugo led us back onto the train; the rest of the Weasleys were a few compartments down from us. I sidled away from my brother and the Potter boys when I saw Molly and Fred.

"Hey," I greeted; I hadn't seen them in over a month, only communicating through letters.

"Hi!" said Molly, beaming. "Are you excited?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Kind of nervous though. I don't really know what to expect."

"Don't worry about it, you'll love it!"

The Weasley and Potter kids all hung out of the windows to say good-bye to their parents for the last time. Mom and Dad had vanished from the platform with the rest of my family, presumably to find their compartments.

After all the good-byes were said and hugs were given, Molly smiled at me apologetically. "Sorry, I've got to go up front for a while; I'm Head Girl."

I had absolutely no idea what that was, but I nodded anyway.

She poked her head into a compartment and said, "Louis, Lucy, come on, we've got to go."

Her strawberry-blonde cousin and younger sister exited their compartment and smiled at me. "Hello, Wyatt," said Lucy as they side-stepped me, and they, with Molly, disappeared down the train.

"Well," said Fred, "let's find somewhere to sit, shall we?"

There was a lot of flip-flopping throughout the Weasley/Potter/Halliwell compartments. James, Chris, Albus, Melinda, and Rose were all crammed in the compartment where I had put my stuff. Louis and Lucy had been in a separate one with their friends and Roxanne. Prue, Lily, Tamora, Kat, and Henry had been joined by Hugo in their compartment, and Fred and I were left to either sit alone in the final compartment to wait for Molly or find Fred's friends.

He led me further down the train, peering into compartments here and there, before finally being satisfied enough with the occupants of one to enter.

"Hey everyone," said Fred as he entered it.

There were three people inside; one was a very pretty, dark skinned girl with her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. There was also a pale, blonde boy with mud-colored eyes and a girl with vibrant blue eyes and brown hair.

"Wyatt, this is Sarita Thomas," he pointed to the dark skinned girl, "Gary Macmillan," the blonde haired boy, "and Jessica Johnson. Everyone, this is Wyatt," he hesitated for a moment, "Halliwell."

The three people inside the compartment gasped. "Wait, you're the boy that saved the Ministry, aren't you?" the girl called Jessica exclaimed.

"And your mom is one of The Charmed Ones, right?" asked Gary.

I nodded, slightly unhappy that Fred had led me into a compartment where I would be ogled at. "Yup."

"That's so cool," said Jessica. Fred went and sat next to Sarita, and I sat across from him, next to Jessica. "I heard that you and your family might be coming here."

"Well, we knew The Charmed Ones were, because of that demon book we had to buy," said Sarita. "But I don't think anyone knew that their kids would be coming, too."

"My family wasn't allowed to tell anyone," Fred said.

"How many of you are there?" asked Jessica. "Wandless witches, I mean."

"Tons," I said. "It's a whole separate world. We're just in hiding. It's a lot different from this place. I don't know any other wandless witches except my family."

"Weird," said Gary. "So you have to live among Muggles and pretend to be normal?"

I nodded. "It's hard."

"Are you excited to be going to Hogwarts?" asked Sarita. "Do you know what house you want to be in?"

"Yes, and no," I responded. "I don't really know anything about the houses except that all the Weasleys are in Gryffindor. Are you guys too?"

They all nodded. "But all of the houses are fine," said Sarita. "My parents were in Gryffindor but my aunt was in Ravenclaw."

"And my dad was in Hufflepuff."

Jessica shrugged. "My parents are Muggles."

"I really don't know where I'll end up," I admitted, "but I'm not really thinking too much about it."

About ten minutes later, the compartment door opened and Molly entered.

"How was the over-achievers' meeting?" asked Gary.

Molly shrugged, sitting next to Fred. "It was the same as every year."

"Yeah, but this year you're Head Girl," teased Jessica.

"What's Head Girl?" I asked, deciding that I would just always voice my questions instead of keeping quiet.

"The Head Girl, and Boy," said Jessica, "basically make sure the students don't break any rules."

"And they're in charge of the prefects," Sarita said.

"A prefect is like the Head Boy and Girl," Fred explained, not even needing me to ask. "They patrol the school to make sure no one breaks rules. There are six in each house – a boy and a girl from fifth, sixth, and seventh year."

"Louis and Lucy are both Gryffindor prefects," added Molly.

"And you're Head Girl?" Wyatt asked.

Molly smiled and sat up a little straighter. "Yup! I was a prefect in my fifth and sixth years also."

"So… can we see your powers?" asked Jessica, staring at me. Gary turned to stare, too, and Sarita looked on with interest.

I clenched my teeth. I didn't want to explain, again, that no, I was not going to put my powers on display for people to gape at, but instead Molly answered for me.

"No!" she said defiantly. "He's not going to parade around his powers like he's the next Merlin. You don't see him asking to see us to cast charms for him. You'll see his powers in due time."

Jessica, Gary, and Sarita were all taken aback, and Fred smirked. I smiled at Molly and mouthed "thank you." She returned the gesture and worded, "Anytime."

**-Melinda-**

I shared a compartment with Chris, Albus, James, and Rose. James had made a big pronouncement that he was ditching his friends to sit with us, but Albus had rolled his eyes and muttered to me that none of James's friends really cared.

"I hope you guys are all in Gryffindor," James was saying. "It would be so awesome! Chris, you'd probably be in my dormitory."

"I hope I'm in Gryffindor," I said, but no one heard me except Albus and Rose. "I won't know anyone otherwise."

"No one really knows anybody when they start Hogwarts," Rose reminded me.

"Except you," I said. "You guys had your whole family."

She shrugged. "Yeah, but only Al was in my year, so even then I had total strangers in my dormitory."

"You meet people in your house quickly," Albus added. "And you have lessons with people from other Houses, so you meet them too."

"Yeah… you're right." Part of me really wanted to be in Gryffindor, because all the Weasleys were in it. But another part of me wanted to get to know _everyone_ and, knowing the Weasleys, I felt like I knew half of Gryffindor house already.

"Maybe you'll be sorted into Ravenclaw," said James cheekily, elbowing Rose. "Rose'll be jealous."

Rose rolled her eyes but her ears turned pink. "Will not."

"Why would she be?" I asked ignorantly.

"Because Scorpius Malfoy is in Ravenclaw," explained James, snickering. "And Rosie looooooves him!"

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Rose, her cheeks now red as well but her eyes squinted in a glare. "Scorpius is the most annoying individual in all of Hogwarts."

"But he loves you, Rosie!" crooned James. "And you love him too!"

Rose glared death at her older cousin. "I hate you so much right now. And I _really _hate Scorpius."

Albus turned to me, smiling slightly. "Rose and Scorpius have disliked each other ever since we started. They're always competing academically. And then Rose became Keeper for the Gryffindor team and Scorpius became Chaser. And our families don't really like each other."

"Does she _really_ like him?" I asked skeptically.

Albus half-shrugged and shook his head. "Nah. We like to tease her, though."

Almost as if on cue, someone knocked on the compartment door and it slide open. A boy with white blonde hair and gray eyes stood in the doorway. He smirked down at us.

"Oh, sorry," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "I thought this was mine."

His eyes roved around to each face in the compartment; they lingered briefly on Chris's and mine, likely because he either did not recognize us or because he knew that we were children of The Charmed Ones. In any case, he said nothing. He nodded at Albus and then smirked again at Rose.

"Hello, Rosie," he said, and she glared at the nickname. "I'm looking forward to this Quidditch season. Hopefully you've improved, so you don't let in so many of my shots this year."

He shut the door behind him as he walked off, and James and Al burst into laughter. "Why are you laughing?" Rose demanded angrily. "He's so arrogant and self-involved and – and –"

"He just does it to mess with you, Rose!" laughed James.

"He's actually not that annoying," Al added. "I mean, yeah, he's a little arrogant and self-involved, but from the way Dad and Uncle Ron talk about his dad, he's obviously not that bad."

"Are you two friends?" I asked him.

He half-shrugged again. "Kind of. We've had a few lessons together."

Rose folded her arms over her chest and scowled. "Whatever. And for the record, he hasn't scored on me _that_ many times."

The rest of the train ride went by surprisingly fast. I experienced another new aspect of this community: their sweets. Our compartment-mates bought a little of everything off the sweet trolley that came around the train and we got to try Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Cauldron Cakes, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, and Licquorice Wands. I loved all of them – except the Every Flavor Beans. Chris and I were tricked into trying multiple ones, as no one told us that they really meant every flavor. I got coconut, brown sugar, and chocolate, until I got earth worn and nearly threw up. The compartment roared with laughter. Chris as well managed to get a few good ones before ending up with glue.

The Chocolate Frogs were the most interesting, because they came with famous witch and wizard cards. I ate five, and got the cards of Alberta Toothill, Circe, Queen Maeve, Mopsus, and Harry Potter, which earned gasps from around. Apparently Harry's card is really rare, and the only other person in the Weasley family to get one was Molly, "which is a shame," remarked James, "because she doesn't even care about the cards."

**-Piper-**

The train ride felt like it was days long, even though it was only hours. I just wanted to get to the school, to my new place of residence for the next nine months, and off this stuffy train with small compartments. Leo and I shared a compartment with Paige, while Coop and Phoebe took the other one with Patty and Penny. Paige somehow slept through most of the ride, despite the rumble of the students talking and laughing being louder than I thought it would be.

When we felt the train start to slow, Paige and I decided to put on our Hogwarts teaching robes. In his letter to us, Filius Flitwick said that our teacher dress code was not as strict as it was for the students – our robes did not need to be black, we just needed to have some. I decided to wear my deep plum-colored robes for the first night (of course, we bought multiple colors). Paige put on her emerald robes, and Phoebe her midnight blue ones.

After the train stopped, we waited until the rest of the students had got off until we exited. As expected, Filius Flitwick, along with another wizard, was waiting for us.

"Ah! There you are!" he exclaimed. Striding over to us, he said, "I shall escort you up to the castle for the Welcoming Feast. If we hurry, we'll be able to get there before the first years do. Oh, and this is Professor Neville Longbottom."

The young man with him smiled and shook our hands. "Pleased to finally meet you."

"Neville is here to show Misters Leo and Coop to their houses, as well as your young children," Flitwick explained. "Unless, of course, you'd like to attend the feast?"

Glancing at the sleeping Penny in Coop's arms and the equally as drowsy Patty, Leo shook his head and said, "No, it's probably best if take them to bed."

"Very well then." Neville smiled. "If you'll follow me."

Coop shifted Penny in his arms so that he could also hold Patty's hand and Leo, after giving me a quick good-bye kiss, grabbed her other hand, and they all followed Neville down the deserted station.

"Let's get going, shall we?" Flitwick beamed. He led us over to a lone carriage some ways away from the station, being pulled by what looked like a hairless horse.

"Gross," muttered Paige as we climbed in. "What is that that's pulling it?"

"You can see it?" said Flitwick, surprised.

"Of course we can," said Phoebe. I nodded.

"That's called a thestral," explained Flitwick, "and only people who had witnessed death can see it."

"Well, we've seen a lot of death," admitted Paige.

Flitwick nodded. "Most of the Hogwarts professors can see them, since the final battle in the Second Wizarding War took place here."

We passed through the Hogwarts gates and the huge Hogwarts castle slowly came into view. It was enormous and magnificent, even at night. I hadn't gotten that good a look at it the last time we were here, since we had vanquished a demon and I'd been too angry at the Minister of Magic to really take in the view. But I now noticed how truly radiant the castle was.

"Is this how the students reach the castle too?" asked Phoebe.

Flitwick nodded. "Well, the second years and older. The first years are taken across the lake by Hagrid – the gamekeeper – instead. And I believe your children are going across the lake as well."

Paige furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Well, when the students go across the lake, they are kept away from the rest of the student body until the Sorting Ceremony," he explained. "Your children need to be sorted, so they will be with the first years for now."

We hopped off the carriage when we reached the castle, and Flitwick led us through the front doors into a humongous entrance hall. The hall alone could fit multiple Manors inside of it. We walked through the hall into another set of large double doors into a superb dining room. There were four long, vertical tables crammed with students, and at the head of the room was another long, horizontal table seated with staff members. All of the forks, knives, and plates were gold, and instead of a ceiling, the room opened up to the starry night sky.

Flitwick led us between two tables up to the front table, and only a few students took notice, most of them being too engrossed in their socializing to look around. The students that did notice, however, immediately turned to their friends to whisper.

In the middle of the table sat Antonius Ulvaeous, the Headmaster, in a large, gold chair. There were quite a few empty chairs on the left half of the table; Flitwick took his seat on Ulvaeous's immediate left and then gestured for us to take the three seats on his other side. I sat directly next to him, with Phoebe next to me and Paige on her other side. We looked down upon the school, where floating candles illuminated the scene. The table farthest to my left held many familiar faces and I concluded that that must be the Gryffindor table.

Neville Longbottom slipped into the Hall after a few moments, taking the spot next to Paige. And another few moments later, the double doors opened again and a gigantic man stood in the doorway, a sea of students behind him. The Hall instantly grew quiet as everyone turned to look at the new students.

The man – who must have been some sort of a giant – walked between the two middle tables to the front, right in front of the head table. The students all stopped walking when they reached the steps up to the table, and the man walked over to the side of the hall to retrieve something. He returned with a stool and an extremely ugly, dirty, and shabby wizard hat.

"What is going on?" asked Phoebe extremely quietly. I simply shrugged.

The hat suddenly sprung to life as it burst into song. I was so shocked that I barely comprehended what it was saying – something about each of the houses and their traits. When it was finished, the entire school burst into applause. I turned to stare my sisters, our mouths all agape. What the hell _was_ this place?

The man cleared his throat and held up a scroll of paper. "When I call yer name," he rumbled loud enough for everyone to hear, "come up here, put on tha hat, and you will be sorted into one of tha four houses."

He started listing off names, starting with A, but I hardly cared. My heart was thumping anxiously until he got to the H's – even though I didn't really know what each of the houses stood for, still, I was curious to see where my kids were put.

Finally, the man boomed, "Halliwell, Christopher!"

It was easy to spot my kids over the others, as Wyatt and Chris towered over the eleven-year-olds, and even the girls were a bit taller. The younger kids all sprang apart as Chris made his way up to the front, and the entire school started to buzz with whispering.

Chris sat on the stool and the man placed the hat on his head. After about ten seconds, the hat roared, "Gryffindor!"

The table where all the familiar Weasleys were sitting erupted in loud applause; a louder cheer, I noticed, than the other students had received. Chris grinned and strode over to the table, taking a seat next to James Potter. The two boys high-fived.

"Halliwell, Prudence!" came next.

There was a short silence and I couldn't help but grin. "Which one?" came Melinda's giggling voice.

The men furrowed his brow and glanced back down at the list. "Er – Prudence Johnna Halliwell."

Prue's face was white with nerves as she walked slowly up to the stool. The hat was situated on her head, and a moment later, the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" The table cheered loudly again and my sister exhaled beside me.

"Prudence _Melinda_ Halliwell!" was the next name. Light laughter filled the hall as everyone realized that, yes, Phoebe and I had both named our daughters Prudence. Melinda tried to hide her excitement as she took her spot on the stool and the hat was placed upon her head.

Another thirty seconds later, and the hat cried, "Ravenclaw!"

**-Albus-**

My heart sank considerably when the hat shouted out Melinda's house. The Ravenclaw table went wild with cheers, as they got one of the Wandless Magic Kids, but Melinda looked a little worried and maybe even a bit upset. She glanced over at the Gryffindor table, where Chris and Prue and my family were sitting, before slowly getting up and going over to the Ravenclaw table. She sat next to Scorpius Malfoy, who grinned down at her. She smiled back hesitantly before she made eye contact with me and frowned again. I half-smiled back, hoping to encourage her.

"Halliwell, Wyatt!" was called up next, and he also was sorted into Gryffindor. The Gryffindor table was going crazy. After seeing another family member sorted into Gryffindor, however, Melinda's face fell.

"Mitchell, Henry!" was called a few moments later and, to what I'm sure was Melinda's immense satisfaction, he was also sorted into Ravenclaw. She beamed at her younger cousin as he approached her table and she gave him one armed hug as he sat next to her.

"Mitchell, Kat!" was next, and she was sorted into Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff table exploded into cheers, standing up and cheering as Kat nervously sat down at a table without any familiar faces.

"Mitchell, Tamora!" was also was sorted into Hufflepuff. She and her twin sister looked relieved to have each other as Tamora bustled over.

I couldn't help but feel dejected, though. The one Halliwell that I wanted in Gryffindor was sorted into Ravenclaw. Not only were Melinda and I not in the same year, but we now aren't even in the same house.

After the sorting was completed, Professor Ulvaeous stood up and smiled down at the student body, waiting for everyone to quiet down. "Welcome back to another year!" he cried. "This year is shaping up to perhaps be our most interesting year so far. In addition to our new students, we have a new course added to our curriculum, as I'm sure you noted from your book list. Three new professors have been welcomed to the Hogwarts family to teach this class on Wiccan magic. Please welcome –" he started to say, but before he could finish, the doors to the Great Hall burst open. I craned my neck around and saw what looked like two dirty, shabby men standing in the threshold.

"Demons," Chris muttered immediately.

Most of the students had no clue that the men in the doorway were in fact demons and thus a threat to them. However, as soon as one exploded and then vanished – whipping my head around and seeing Piper standing up, with her arms outstretched, I concluded that the explosion was her doing – people started to freak out. Screams erupted throughout the Great Hall and some not-very-intelligent students tried to stand up and perhaps run.

The uproar suddenly grew louder and I glanced around; two more demons had appeared, one behind the Slytherin table and the other behind the Gryffindor table, just a few people down from where I sat. My heart rate spiked and Rose gasped loudly in my ear. One of the demons conjured up a ball of blue and white light and hurled it at the Ravenclaw table, hitting a second year girl and sending her flying.

"Wyatt!" shouted Piper from the head table, and I turned around in time to see him disappearing in an orb. He reappeared on the ground between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, next to the injured girl, and Melinda bustled over to help.

I saw Piper wave her hands and blow up the demon that fired the energy ball, which was the one by the Gryffindor table, and Paige orbed over to the original demon in the doorway. With everyone staring, she grabbed a knife from the Hufflepuff table near her and stabbed the demon, causing him to erupt in a burst of flames before disappearing. Chris, in a dramatic act of finality, jumped up onto the bench and waved his hand violently, sending a knife on the table flying toward the final demon. He, too, disappeared in a ball of fire after being pierced by the knife, which then dropped to the ground.

The whole attack lasted a total of thirty seconds, but it was enough to take a full minute for the commotion in the Hall to die down. It was mostly younger students that were yelling, although quite a few students from Hufflepuff and Slytherin seemed beside themselves. Rose and I assisted in attempting to calm down the students near us, with help from Molly, Louis, and Lucy. It wasn't until Neville stood up and made the sound of a firecracker erupt from his wand did silence befall the students.

"... The Charmed Ones," Professor Ulvaeous finally finished to the hushed hall.

Piper was still standing up with her arms raised, as well as Chris on the bench and Paige near the doors, clutching the knife. They were all breathing heavily. Wyatt and Melinda slowly helped the Ravenclaw girl sit up, whose injury had miraculously vanished. As soon as everyone realized that the bloody wound was completely gone, buzzed whispers started again. Rose and I glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, as we, too, had not seen the Halliwell powers before.

"Hello," said Piper sheepishly. "I'm a Charmed One. Sorry about that. Just your typical demon attack."

"Oh, my God," breathed a student; the Great Hall was so quiet that everyone heard it.

I watched as, across the hall, Paige jogged over to Wyatt, Melinda, and the Ravenclaw girl. "How is she?"

"She's fine," said Wyatt, turning to his aunt. "The energy ball grazed her stomach."

"You-you healed me," the second year stammered breathlessly. She pointed a shaky hand at Wyatt, her whole body quivering. "With... with your hands. They glowed and... I was better." Everyone watched the exchange aptly.

Wyatt and Paige exchanged glances. "Um..." Melinda stepped forward and led the girl back to her seat.

"Did you blow up that guy?" another student called out.

Piper slowly lowered her hands. "I, uh..."

"You guys stabbed him!" a Slytherin pupil yelled. "And then they -"

"They disappeared! In fire!" a Hufflepuff finished.

Chris sat back down again, drumming his fingers on his golden plate and staring straight ahead, unfocused, as if trying to block off the stares of half the student population.

Paige vanished in a swirl of blue and white lights and reappeared behind her seat. "Paige!" I heard Phoebe growl, as the students began to twitter nervously again.

"What?" cried Paige defensively. "Our entire HOUSE could fit inside this room, and I'm not about to walk across it when I can orb!"

"But they're already freaked out enough!" exclaimed Phoebe. "We don't need to be showing them MORE magic!"

"Geez, calm down." Paige rolled her eyes. Rose giggled next to me.

"Phoebe, Piper, and Paige," Ulvaeous announced, and the girls jumped. "They are The Charmed Ones. But they will be better known to you as Professors Halliwell," he pointed to Piper and Phoebe, "and Mitchell." Paige raised her hand.

"Where are their wands?" a Slytherin girl shouted. "I didn't see them use wands."

A Gryffindor boy piped up, "What spell can blow up people?"

"I could use that," someone else mused.

"Now is not the time for explanations," Ulvaeous said. "First, let's eat!"

**-Molly-**

The food magically appeared on the five tables as it always does, but it took most of the students in the Great Hall a moment to actually reach for the food and start serving themselves. Everyone was a little shaken up by the demon attack that had just transpired. Even I was a little dazed. The only people I knew that had seen the Halliwells using their magic, until now, were Uncle Harry and my dad.

After making sure the Ravenclaw student was okay, Wyatt came back to the Gryffindor table and took his place across from me and next to Fred. Everyone was staring at both him and Chris, but the two boys tried to act normally as they served themselves food. Finally, Wyatt glanced up and saw me staring. "What?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't. After a moment, I said, "That – that was –"

"Really cool!" said James, clapping Chris on the shoulder.

"Not exactly the adjective I was going to use," I said, adjusting my glasses. Wyatt watched me expectantly, and I shrugged. "I just wasn't expecting something like that to happen, I guess," I admitted. "It kinda scares me."

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, if these demons can just get here to easily…" I faltered. "I don't know. Are we always going to be worrying about if a demon will just pop in when we're sleeping or sitting out in the courtyard or…"

Wyatt shook his head. "Demons don't work that way," he explained. "My mom and aunts have been fighting demons for so many years, and, trust me, that's not how it works. They don't just shimmer in at random times to attack. Usually we know beforehand, and even if they did come randomly, it wouldn't be in to students' dorms. And especially now, they're going to keep their distance for a long time, because they know for a fact that my mom and aunts are here."

I half-smiled. "I hope you're right."

"Of course I am," he said, grinning.

"Can we just talk about how _cool_ that was?" asked James, changing the subject. "I heard that you guys were powerful, but I didn't know about all the awesome things you can do!"

"Yeah!" added Roxanne. "How did you mend her wound?"

"And you –" Louis said to Chris. "Did you move that knife with your _hands_?"

"Just one of our many powers," said Chris with faux-modesty.

"You can do _more_?" exclaimed Lucy.

Prue nodded. "Wyatt and Chris can do a lot. I can only freeze time and heart."

"Only?" said Hugo. "That's so cool!"

"Heart?" said Lily dubiously.

Shrugging, Prue said, "Yeah, it's cool, but it's nothing compared to what Wyatt and Chris can do."

"What can they do?" asked Lily curiously.

"Well," she began, "they can –"

"Prue," said Wyatt warningly to his little cousin.

Pouting, the second year said, "What?" As he continued to gaze at her, she sighed and said, "Fine." Turning to Hugo and Lily, she said, "My mom told me that I can't brag about Wyatt and Chris's powers to other people."

Chris turned around to glance at the Ravenclaw table. I thought he was looking at the second year that has been attacked, but instead he said, "I hope Mel is okay."

I followed his gaze to Melinda, who was sitting in between Scorpius Malfoy and her cousin Henry. She was talking to Scorpius as she ate, as well as a few students around her. "She looks fine," Wyatt said, who had also looked over at Chris's words. "If anything, we should worry about shy little Henry."

"Melinda looked a little upset at first," Albus piped up.

Wyatt shrugged. "She gets scared of situations kind of quickly, but then when she thinks about them and realizes that she's making a big deal of nothing, she calms down. I think it also helps that Henry is with her, too."

"I hope they join the Quidditch team," said James. "Then the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw games would be AWESOME!"

"I wonder what she and Scorpius are talking about," mused Rose, watching the pair.

James smirked at his cousin. "Jealous?"

Rolling her eyes, Rose said, "Yes, of course, any female that talks to Scorpius enrages me because I fancy him."

Once dinner and dessert were finished, and everyone was so full that they just wanted to go to sleep, Professor Ulvaeous stood up again. "I hope you all enjoyed your dinner!" he said pleasantly, once the hall had fallen silent. "Before you all go to bed – because I know you can't wait to get to sleep early so your first day of classes can arrive even quicker! – I have a few notices to give out, as per usual. First years and new students, please take note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden. Quidditch tryouts will be held next week; please contact Coach Wood if you are interested in playing for your House team." He smiled. "And finally, I hope you all will welcome our new students and faculty members graciously. There is a lot you can learn from them, and a lot that you can teach them. But enough of my chatter – off to bed now!"

**-Melinda-**

Even though part of me didn't want to be in Gryffindor, I will admit that I was petrified when Wyatt, Chris, and Prue were all sorted into Gryffindor and I put into Ravenclaw. At first, I was partially embarrassed – they all got into the same house as the Weasleys, and I was the odd one out in Ravenclaw. I felt tons better when Henry was sorted into Ravenclaw as well, and then Tamora and Kat ended up in Hufflepuff, but I still felt a little sad. Did that mean I would never really get to talk to the Weasleys or my brothers or my cousins during the year? Would I be spending all my time with my fellow house-mates?

As I talked with Scorpius Malfoy during the feast, I voiced to him these concerns. He laughed at me. "'Course that's not true," he chuckled. "You'll see them. Most people sit at their house tables for meals, but really, you could sit with them if you wanted. You'll have lessons with other houses in your year. And there's always time after lessons, before dinner, where you have free time and of course you can spend it with whomever you like. It's not as segregated as it seems. And according to my father, it's a lot more integrated now than it was when he was in school."

I sighed in relief. "Good."

"What year are you in, anyway?" he asked me.

"Third," I said. "I don't think any of the Weasleys are in my year. What about you?"

"I'm a fourth year," he said. "Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team? We have three open spots on the Ravenclaw team since our Keeper and two of our Chasers graduated last year."

I laughed and shook my head. "Probably not," I said. "I've never even flown before. And I still don't know how Quidditch works."

"I could teach you," he offered. "The first week or so of lessons aren't that busy, so there'll be time in the evenings."

"No thanks," I said. "Albus already promised he'd teach me."

"Albus Potter?" he repeated and I nodded. "Albus doesn't play Quidditch."

"No, but he can fly," I said. "And that's all I really want to know how to do. I don't have much of an interest in playing competitively."

Following Professor Ulvaeous's welcome speech, all the students stood up to retreat to their common room. One of the Ravenclaw prefects started shouting for the first years to follow him, while Scorpius turned to Henry and me and said, "Follow me."

"Aren't you a prefect as well?" I asked, noting the P badge on his robes.

"Yup. I'm helping though," he said, grinning. "And besides, the other prefects are taking care of the first years."

He led us, along with most of the school, up the main marble stairs. Once we had been separated from the masses, he turned to me and said, "So, you said your name is Melinda, right?" I nodded. "Why did Hagrid call you Prudence?"

"Prudence is my first name," I explained, "And Melinda is my middle name. I've always gone by Melinda, though."

"How come?" he asked, and I shrugged.

"Well, when my older brother Wyatt was going to be born, they thought he was a girl and called him Melinda. I think they always wanted to have a daughter named Melinda, and even though they ended up naming me Prudence instead, they just always called me Melinda."

"And your cousin is named Prudence, too?"

I nodded. "Prudence is the name of my aunt who died before I was even born. Aunt Phoebe wanted to call her daughter Prue, and it worked out fine since no one ever calls me Prue."

"P names are big in your family, aren't they?" he smirked.

He led us up countless flights of stairs, and my legs were starting to ache. After a good ten minutes, we had finally ascended to what I assume was one of the towers, judging from the windows that showed how high we were. I glanced around the deserted stone hallway, wondering where exactly our dorms were, when Scorpius approached a wall that was blank except for a bronze, eagle-shaped knocker.

"What is a man's greatest treasure?" asked the eagle, and Henry and I jumped in surprise. We stared in shock.

"Wit beyond measure," Scorpius supplied.

"Very good." The stone wall melted away into an archway, and Scorpius led us inside. Since the room was, like I suspected, inside a tower, it was very wide and circular. There were large, arched windows and the midnight-blue ceiling was painted with stars. A fireplace was situated in one corner of the room, and tables, chairs, and sofas were spread throughout. A white-marble statue of a woman sat next to another doorway.

Most of the house had already gathered in the common room. Older students were already walking through the door by the statue, while a prefect stood before the gathered first years. "Dormitories are through this doorway," she said, pointing to the door. "The door leads to a hallway with two other doors; one for boys and one for girls. Through the doors are spiraling staircases that will lead to your dormitory, separated by year."

Scorpius, Henry, and I followed the crowd of first years through the door. There was a door on the left that led to the girls' dormitories, and a door on the right that led to the boys'. I turned to Henry and gave the little boy a hug. "Good-night," I said to him. He smiled back, a little hesitantly, as he turned to join the throng of boys heading to their dormitories.

I turned and smiled graciously at Scorpius. "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow!" I said as I headed up the stairs.

He nodded as we parted ways. "Good-night."


	6. Chapter 6

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 6

**-Chris-**

I didn't get much sleep my first night at Hogwarts, even though I was really tired. It was just too hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that we were _here,_ in an all magical school, with all these wizards that waved around sticks of wood. We actually were here, and it was so bizarre to me.

When I did manage to fall asleep, however, it felt like I was only sleeping for about two minutes before James was shaking me awake. "Come on, we gotta get to breakfast and get our schedules," he was saying. I rolled over, grumbling and forgetting where I was. It wasn't until James said, "Don't make me hex you," did I remember and I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

I put on my Hogwarts uniform and robes, still feeling weird about wearing them, and gathered my book bag. James and I, along with our dorm mates – Theo McLaggen, Arnold Coote, Barry Spector, and Nigel Johnson – trudged down the stairs to the common room. They were nice enough – they had spent much of the previous night discussing how cool it was that I could use the power that I could and how attractive Aunt Paige was, after all – and it became clear to me that James was a much more pleasant person to be around.

The breakfast in the great hall was just as delicious as the dinner the previous night had been. I wanted to take my time eating it, but Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher and head of Gryffindor House, passed around schedules during the meal and there was only so much time we had until we had to go to our first class.

"Potions is our first lesson," James said, glancing at his schedule. "Then after break we have your mum's Wiccan class!"

I glanced up at the High Table and saw my mom, Aunt Phoebe, and Aunt Paige eating their breakfast, all looking a little anxious. I knew they were nervous about teaching, and it almost made me laugh. My mom, after all the ass-kicking she has done in her life, is nervous about teaching to a bunch of teenagers. I excused myself from the Gryffindor table and jogged up to the High Table, approaching Mom's seat.

"Oh, Chris, honey," she said upon seeing me. "How was your first night?"

"Good," I said.

"And how's Melinda?" she asked.

"And Henry and the twins?" inquired Aunt Paige.

"They're not in the same house as you guys are," said Mom, "so I hope they're doing okay. I hope they're not too upset –"

"Mom, that's what happens when you go away to school, you meet new people," I said, rolling my eyes. "It's not like they're fending for themselves in that forest. Tamora and Kat are together and Melinda's good at making friends, so they'll be fine. But anyway, Mom, I'm in your second class!"

"Oh, good," Mom sighed. She looked down at the schedule she had in her hands. "We have Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh years first, so you and Wyatt are in our first two classes."

"Now I'm even more nervous!" complained Aunt Phoebe. "You guys better not heckle us!"

I smirked. "I can't make any promises."

"Well then, we'll just have to use you as an example of a half-breed," Mom simpered. "Half-witch, half-Whitelighter, on display!"

"You're funny," I said. "How was your first night in Hogs-thing?"

"Hogsmeade," supplied Aunt Phoebe. "It was nice! The houses are so cute. And we each have a house-elf. Ours is named Winky, and Piper's and Paige's is called Pokey."

"A house-elf?" I made a face. "You mean like that gross thing at James's house?"

"Yeah, except ours are more pleasant looking," giggled Aunt Paige. "I can't wait for the weekend, though – Hogsmeade is such a cute village and there are so many little stores that I want to check out!"

Aunt Phoebe checked her watch. "We should go. We've only been to our classroom once, and we got lost twice going there."

"Good luck!" I said as they got up to leave. I jogged back to the Gryffindor table and sat between James and Roxanne. I made eye-contact with Wyatt, who was sitting across from me, and rolled my eyes while grinning. "They're all nervous."

Wyatt shook his head and rolled his eyes to the ceiling as well. "They're so weird."

**-Molly-**

That morning, I arrived to the Great Hall with Sarita. We sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Wyatt and Fred, the latter of who passed us our schedules.

I was taking on a rather difficult N.E.W.T. course-study; I had received nine O.W.L.s, in all of my classes, and proceeded to take seven N.E.W.T. classes. In addition to the new Wiccan course, I was going to have a relatively full, and extremely busy, year. I work well under pressure, though. I got through my sixth year with little to no problems, so I didn't expect to have much of a problem this year.

Wyatt was taking all eight required courses, as well as three elective classes. They were all N.E.W.T.-level classes, since he was in seventh year, although he would not be expected to take the N.E.W.T. exams at the end of the year, since he was jumping in to the courses in his final year. He will, essentially, just be sitting in on the classes.

"You're in her first class," Chris was saying to Wyatt.

"Huh?" I said, jumping in mid-conversation.

Wyatt pointed to my schedule. "Our first class is Wicca. Apparently my mom is really nervous."

"Really?" I said skeptically. "She's a pro at this stuff – at least, judging by last night and _The_ _Daily Prophet_ article."

"She _is _a pro," he grinned. "That's why it's funny."

"I'm really excited for it," said Sarita. "Finally, we get to learn more about your guys' world!"

"I'm excited too," I said.

Wyatt shrugged. "I guess I am too. I know it all, though. And it'll be a class taught by my mom and aunts. It'll be weird."

A few moments later, I was done with breakfast and noticed that Wyatt was as well. "Shall we go?"

Wyatt nodded and grabbed his book bag. The two of us exited the hall and began to climb the marble staircase, heading toward the sixth floor Wiccan classroom – or rather, me leading Wyatt.

"Did you not want to wait for the others?" he asked, mightily perceptive.

As pathetic as it sounds, I'm really not that great of friends with the other Gryffindors in my year. Sarita and I get along alright, but Jessica and the others are just not compatible with me. Jessica likes to tease me because of my grades and the fact that I was a prefect and am now Head Girl. It's just light teasing, but I can tell that she doesn't really care for me, which is fine. Sarita is nice; we just don't have enough in common. I tend to hang out with them, though, because they're friends with Fred, and Fred is really my only friend in our year. I prefer to spend my time Louis and Roxanne, and Dominique – she, however, graduated last year.

I shrugged. "Well, they usually take a long time to eat, and I like to get to lessons early…" I side-glanced at him. "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to, you know. Not many people like going early."

"No, it's fine!" he said earnestly. "Really. I'd rather be with you than Gary and Jessica, anyway."

I blinked in shock. "Really?"

"Well, there's just something off about them to me," I said. "Maybe it's just because they're like everyone else in the sense that, when I met them, they just wanted to see my powers. I don't think they've talked to me about anything except my magic, actually. It's kind of annoying."

I smiled. "Yeah, I can see that."

My mood improved greatly after this conversation, and soon Wyatt and I reached the classroom. I was surprised to see how many people were already there; nearly half the room was already filled with Slytherins.

Wyatt and I sat down in a couple of desks near the front and watched as Professors Halliwell and Mitchell set up. They had with them the demon encyclopedia, some loose sheets of paper, and a closed chest that was apparently very heavy, as Professor (Piper) Halliwell had been unable to lift it and thus Professor Mitchell had to use her power to move it. I watched aptly as she held out her hand, said, "Chest!" and then gestured over to the desk in front of her; the chest disappeared in a swaddle of blue and white lights, just like the ones that materialized when Wyatt and Paige had orbed the night before, and reappeared on the table.

"Whoa," said Rachael Zabini on the other side of the room. She and Nicole Blusky clapped politely.

A few moments later, the rest of the class began filing in. Fred and Sarita sat down next to Wyatt and me, while Gary, Jessica, and the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins filled up the remaining seats.

Professor (Phoebe) Halliwell checked her watch and exclaimed "Oh! It's time to start!" She turned to us, her bright blue robes flowing as she went. Beaming around, she said, "Hello everyone. Welcome to Wicca. You guys are the very first students to ever attend this class, and thus the very first class we have ever taught, so please excuse us if we aren't good." A chuckle rang out. Wyatt turned to me, half-grinning, and rolled his eyes. "I'm Phoe – er, Professor Halliwell, that's also Professor Halliwell, and that's Professor Mitchell."

"This first class is probably going to be a little boring," Professor Mitchell took over. "And maybe the next one, too. All we're going to do at first is just give you the basics of the Wiccan magical community – tell you about the creatures, the history, all that fun stuff. It'll probably be a while until you start brewing potions, which is likely the only type of hands-on activity you will be able to do, since the powers that we use cannot be learned. However," she smiled, her eyes twinkling, "since this is a – what do you call it? Newt class? – we may bring in some of these creatures to show you first hand."

"First, we'll start with a rundown of all the creatures that exist in our world," continued Professor (Piper) Halliwell. "The first few you already know about. Witches," she gestured to herself, "and demons are the most prominent. Witches are not born good or evil; they can pick whichever side they want to be on, such as you guys can. Demons, however, are born evil. They are born in the Underworld and have evil intentions, which are generally to kill the innocent, kill witches, take complete power, yadda yadda yadda. There are many different types of demons, but we'll cover those later. The demons that you all saw yesterday are lower-level demons, probably the least threatening type of demons."

I winced; that was probably not the best thing to say. A girl got hit by a blast of energy – and that was one of the harmless demons?

"There are also creatures called Whitelighters," carried on Professor (Pheobe) Halliwell. "Whitelighters are essentially guardian angels. A Whitelighter is created after a person does extreme good in their lifetime; after they die, they are offered a chance to return to Earth as a Whitelighter. They guide new witches to help them get used to their powers and their newfound duties. They also watch over future Whitelighters, making sure that the good they're supposed to do in their lives is accomplished. Elders," she continued, "are basically Whitelighters that have been promoted. They oversee the magical community and direct the Whitelighters to their charges – as in, the people that Whitelighters guide. Now, Whitelighters live among people, but are not allowed to marry or have children, simply only existing to assist the greater good and watch over their charges. However, that rule has been broken a couple of times." She smirked. "Professor Mitchell over here is an example of the very first half-witch, half-Whitelighter to ever be born."

"Thank you, thank you." Professor Mitchell curtseyed.

"The second," said Professor (Piper) Halliwell, "is also sitting in this room."

Immediately, all heads turned to Wyatt. He grinned sheepishly.

"Wyatt is also half-witch, half-Whitelighter, as is his younger brother, Chris," Professor (Pheobe) Halliwell explained.

Professor Mitchell gestured to the chalkboard next to her, upon which she had written: witch, demon, Whitelighter, Elder. "Next?"

The next thirty minutes of the lesson were spent in this same routine; the three Professors would go back and forth in explaining all of the magical beings in their world. They would pause and ask for questions, but no one ever had any. When they had finished, there were nearly fifty different species of creatures written on the chalkboard. "There's so many," I muttered as I scribbled down "Cleaners."

Wyatt nodded. He had, however, decided not to write anything down. "It's not hard to remember, though," he said.

"Easy for you to say," I said. "You grew up knowing about them."

"Alright." Professor Phoebe glanced up from her notes and clapped her hands together. "Any questions?" A hand slowly rose into the air. "Yes?"

"Do all witches have the same powers, or are they all different?" Sarita Thomas asked.

"That is an excellent question," said Professor Phoebe, smiling at Sarita. "There are many different types of powers that a witch can have. Some witches can have the same power, but again, there are so many different ones that it's uncommon. Powers are also hereditary. For example, Piper has the power of molecular immobilization – or, freezing time – which is the same power our mother had."

"What powers do you guys have?" asked Jessica Johnson quickly.

"Can we see them?" Rachel Zabini begged.

The Professors all glanced at each other, communicating with their eyes. As much as I would chastise anyone for asking, I had to admit that I was very curious to see their powers as well.

"Well, alright," Professor Piper relented. "I guess the best way we can showcase a witch's power to you all is to use ourselves." She stepped forward. "One thing that must be noted first is that most witches are born with one power and one power only. My sisters' and my powers, however, have expanded over our years as witches, due to us being the Charmed Ones. I was born with the power of molecular immobilization, which is, like Phoebe said, basically the power to freeze."

She glanced around. Near the back of the room, Malcolm Bole was sitting with his head propped up by his arm resting on his desk. He was throwing a paper ball up in the air, his expression one of boredom. Professor Piper waved her hands, and suddenly the paper ball froze. Malcolm jumped so violently that he fell out of his chair, and the room burst into laughter. "What the hell!" he cried.

"That is an example of molecular immobilization," said Professor Piper above the laughs. "And this is an example of molecular combustion." She waved her hands again, and the paper ball blew up in a mess of flames.

"Whoa," breathed Sarita.

"That is my second power; basically, the ability to blow things up," she explained. "You guys all saw that last night when I blew up the demon."

Professor Phoebe then stood up. "I have to warn you all," she said, "Piper's powers are the best out of all of ours, so prepare to be underwhelmed after that little show. My main power is one that I cannot show you – it's the power of premonition. I can see past, present, or future events. I am also an empath, meaning I can channel people's emotions. And lastly, I can levitate." She jumped, although instead of coming back to the ground, she continued to rise until her head grazed the ceiling.

"That's wicked," commented Fred.

She slowly floated back down while Professor Mitchell stepped forward. "My powers are a little different than my sisters', because I'm half-Whitelighter. I'm technically telekinetic, but my telekinetic powers are slightly different than the usual telekinesis. Normally, a telekinetic witch would use her hands or eyes to simply move an object; however, mine are a little more exaggerated." She held up her hand and said, "Bracelet." I glanced behind me in time to see the golden bangle around Sarita's wrist disappear in a swaddle of blue and white lights, and then reappear in Paige's outstretched hand. Sarita gasped and wrapped her hand around her wrist, feeling where the bracelet used to be.

"I can also orb, which you all saw yesterday," she explained, walking over to Sarita and giving her back her bracelet. "It's my way of Apparating, I believe you guys call it. Also, since I'm half-Whitelighter, I have their powers. I can sense my charges and I can heal injuries."

"What kind of powers does Wyatt have?" asked Gary.

I side-glanced over at Wyatt, who scowled down at his desk. Professor Piper looked at her son and then over at Gary. "If Wyatt wants to tell you about his powers, he will."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. As we all stood up and gathered our things, Professor Phoebe called over the noise, "Thanks for being such a great first class! No homework!"

**-Scorpius-**

If there was one thing I greatly enjoyed doing, it was pushing Rose Weasley's buttons. Ever since the ride across the lake in our first year, when she, Albus Potter, Isabel Tripplehoker, and I shared a boat, did I realize that most of my Hogwarts educational career would be spent doing everything I could to annoy her.

I knew who she and Albus were before they introduced themselves to me. After all, their families and parents are famous. It isn't hard to suspect that most red-haired children are probably Weasleys, and, well, Albus is the spitting image of his famous father.

Contrary to what Rose had believed, I did not begin Hogwarts with an already biased opinion on her and her family. I had grown up listening to my father begrudgingly talk about how "Harry Potter, that annoying Weasley boy, and the Mudblood" had saved his life, and it always baffled me that he would speak it with such disgust – and it would also slightly annoy me that he used that foul word. Usually after mentioning something like this, my mother, when taking me to bed at night, would explain that my father had been raised in a not-so-healthy environment and that my grandparents had essentially poisoned his mind. Even though my father was grateful that his life had been saved, so many years of hatred that he could not let go of towards Harry Potter, so-called blood-traitors, and Muggle-borns made it hard to be completely appreciative.

So, I decided that, upon my entry into Hogwarts, I would do my best to single-handedly change the reputation of the Malfoy family. That is why, when I found myself in a boat with none other than Albus Potter and Rose Weasley, I held out my hand confidently and said, "Hello. I'm Scorpius Malfoy."

Albus returned the gesture, as did Rose after a moment's hesitation. "Are you all excited to be going to Hogwarts?" I asked politely.

Albus nodded, but Rose ignored me. I asked them what House they hoped to be sorted into; Albus said he didn't care – which surprised me – but Rose said nothing. After a few more questions went unanswered, I asked her with false courtesy, "Did I do something to offend you?"

Her head snapped in my direction and she narrowed her eyes. "No, but all the horrible things your father said about my parents is enough!"

"When did he say something horrible about them?" I asked in surprise.

"When they were in school!"

I blinked. "Wait. So you don't like me because of something my father said to your parents before I was even born?"

Rose flushed. "Well, the seedpods don't fly far from the puffapod, do they?"

It was then that I reached my decision to annoy Rose with everything I could. After all, who is she to judge me based on my father? I think I proved to her early on that she was wrong, and she knew it – but she was too stubborn to change her opinion of me so she continued to dislike me instead of admitting her mistake. And I was more than happy to keep tormenting her.

And that is why I am sitting outside during my morning break and observing Rose from across the courtyard with Albus and some of her fellow Gryffindor friends. I twirled my wand in my hand as I contemplated how annoyed Rose would be if her bookbag suddenly split. As I thought, I noticed out of the corner of my eye as Melinda approached Rose's group, smiling at them and then turning straight to me and waving. I froze, as this movement caused the Gryffindors to glance over at me. Rose scowled when she noticed the wand in my hand and glared at me.

I grumbled in annoyance and thrust my wand back in my pocket, my plan ruined. I grabbed my bookbag and swung it over my shoulder and began to walk my path back into the school.

I trekked toward my next lesson, which was Charms, figuring I could hang out in the hallway and get some reading done before the class started. While walking down the hallway, I heard some jogging footsteps behind me, and turned in time to see Rose hustling over to me.

"Can I help you?' I drawled.

She narrowed her eyes as she fell in step with me. "What were you doing back there?"

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.

"With your wand," she said. "Were you going to hex me?"

I shrugged. "Just something small… you know, rip your bag open or something."

Rose glared at me. "Scorpius, this isn't funny anymore. You can make fun of me and bother me all you want, but you can't start cursing me."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on, Rosie. I would never curse you."

She paused. "Well, good."

I side-glanced at her. "Did you think I was going to curse you to _hurt_ you?"

Scowling at me, she said, "I wouldn't put it past you!"

Sighing, I said, "Give it a rest, Rosie. I know you want to hate me, but I haven't done anything to suggest that I would hurt you."

She gaped at me. "But – but I –"

I didn't respond; instead I increased my pace and walked ahead of her. I heard her footsteps behind me all the way to the Charms hallway. I sat down against the wall, took a book from my bag, and began to read. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her do the same.

After a few moments of silence, she said, "Why are you the way that you are?"

I slowly looked up from my book. "Come again?"

Rose fidgeted uncomfortably. "I mean… my dad has told me a lot of bad things about your dad. How are you so… nice?"

I didn't speak for a moment. "My father tells me that your father was a blundering idiot when it came to magic during school. And yet you are a genius. Why is that?"

Rose flushed. "My dad was not – and my mum is very bright –"

"Well, my mum doesn't have the same views as my father," I interrupted. "That's where I get it from."

She looked down. "Oh."

"Our parents do not define who we are," I continued. "For the last three years, you've judged me because of who my father is."

"I know," she said quietly. "But… I just find it difficult to socialize with a person whose father was just so, so awful to my parents. Especially my mother."

"Well, I don't really know what to say to that," I said, "except that I am not my father."

Rose nodded. "I know."

There was silence for a while, as we both pretended to read, even though we were really mulling over the conversation that had just taken place. I wondered if perhaps I had hit a breakthrough in my relationship with Rose. Would we be… friends now?

"You still annoy me, though," Rose said finally.

I glanced up, smirking, at her, to see her scowling at me. "Yeah, well, you still suck at Quidditch."

"I do not, Scorpius," she spat. "I just slipped off my broom that one time –"

"Yeah, okay," I scoffed. "That explains one shot you let through. What about the other ten?"

"Ten? Please, you flatter yourself—"

Footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, signaling the approach of the rest of our class. A group of students turned the corner, Albus in front of the pack. He stopped short at the sight of us. "Hey. What's going on?" he asked hesitantly.

"Scoripus is just being his usual intolerable self," Rose grumbled, standing up and brushing off her robes.

"It's not my fault you get defensive when talking about your Quidditch skills," I said airily.

**-Melinda-**

I was exhausted after my first day of classes. I only had four lessons – compared to my old school, which had eight periods a day, I thought this would be luxurious. However, the Hogwarts castle is absolutely _humongous_, so I would have one class in the dungeons, then have to go up six flights to my next lesson, back to the Great Hall for lunch, up eight flights for my next lesson, down five for another, and finally the Great Hall again for dinner. I had breaks in between these classes, but I still found myself exhausted by the time I trudged into the Great Hall for dinner.

There were four girls that I was sharing a room with in Ravenclaw – Abby Davies, Amy Entwhistle, Jessalyn Quirke, and Rachael Llew. They were all rather nice and had been very polite to us on our first night in Ravenclaw, but Rachael and Amy were best friends and apparently had been since their very first day at Hogwarts, so naturally we felt a little left out with the two of them. Abby was a bit standoffish and hung out mostly with the boys – I've already learned that she's Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and is in love with Scorpius Malfoy. Jessalyn, though, is a sweetheart and immediately became my friend.

"So how was your first day?" Jessalyn asked as we strode into the Great Hall for dinner.

I adjusted my heavy book bag from my right to my left shoulder and sighed. "Long," I said breathlessly.

She smiled. "You'll get used to the layout of the castle, I promise. It won't take long."

"Will I ever get used to the endless stairs?" I asked.

"Eventually."

We sat down at the Ravenclaw table, a few seats away from Henry Jr. "How was your first day?" I asked.

He beamed. "It was so much fun! I got to watch everyone perform Charms with their wands and learn about cool plants and potions that I've never heard of before!"

"That's great!" I said as he turned to talk to his new friends. "Looks like he's adjusting well," I said to Jessalyn.

Scorpius and his fellow fourth-year friend Jamie Li, whom we met the night before, sat down across from us. "Hey Jessalyn," said Scoripus. "Melinda. How was your first day?"

"Long," I said again. "I can't believe it's only six. I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep."

"Did you guys have the Wicca class yet?" Jessalyn asked.

Jamie shook his head. "No, we don't have it until Wednesday. Did you?"

"It's our first class tomorrow."

"My brothers had it today," I said. "Chris told me that our mom was nervous, but it went well."

"I can't wait for it," Jessalyn admitted. "Everyone's had so many questions about you guys ever since _The Daily Prophet_ ran its article."

"What kind of questions?" I asked.

Jessalyn half-smiled. "Well, my mom said I shouldn't ask you because it would be rude."

"You can ask me anything!" I cried. "Seriously – I mean, I have so many questions about this place too, so I wouldn't be offended at all if you asked me any questions."

"Hey."

I turned around and saw Albus standing behind me. I grinned widely at him. "Hi!"

"How was day one?"

I smirked. "Long," I said for the third time.

"Well, do you have it in you to learn how to fly tonight, or would you rather save that for another day?"

Suddenly I swelled with energy that I didn't know I still had after such a tiring day. "Sure!" I grabbed a piece of buttered bread and jumped up. "Let's go! I'll see you guys later," I said to Jessalyn, Scorpius, and Jamie before following Albus out of the Great Hall.

"This is the perfect week for you to learn how to fly," Albus explained as we walked outside. "Quidditch tryouts are this weekend, so no teams are practicing yet. And once the pitch is booked, there really isn't anywhere else to practice."

I nodded. "Thank you so much for teaching me how to fly!"

"Of course," he said. He glanced at me from over his shoulder. "So how's Ravenclaw?"

"It's great," I said. "I get along really well with Jessalyn Quirke, one of the girls in my year. Scorpius has been really nice, too."

"That's good," Albus said. After a pause, he added, "I wish you were in Gryffindor, though. Then we could see more of each other."

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I know. But we still get to see each other!"

Albus and I went into the Quidditch supplies shed (the key to which he had, thanks to Fred) and got two brooms. As we walked onto the Quidditch pitch – not a field, Albus insisted – he explained, "James warned me that these brooms aren't really that good, but they'll be fine for you to learn on."

Forty minutes later and I had managed to get my broom about ten feet in the air and move a distance of fifteen feet. First off, it took me a good ten minutes to get over the whole stereotype of witches riding on broomsticks. Second, I never really thought that I was afraid of heights until I was in the air on a moving broomstick. Another twenty minutes saw me attempting to levitate on the broom, which didn't work out so well because as soon as my feet would leave the ground, I would gasp and slide off of it. My tailbone was surely to be bruised tomorrow. Finally, for the last ten minutes, I conquered my fear of being a few feet off the ground and was able to get the broom to go forward. It was still difficult, though – if I leaned forward too much, the broom jerked too fast, which would scare me and cause me to fall, again.

"You didn't do that bad," Albus said as we returned the brooms to the supply shed.

I pulled a few blades of grass from my hair and laughed. "Yeah, okay."

"No, really! A lot of people don't even get the broom to levitate on their first go."

"Really? Like what people?" I challenged.

Albus shrugged. "Well, normally Muggle-borns."

**-Albus-**

Melinda and I walked the stairs together until we reached the floor of the Gryffindor Tower. We said good-bye and made plans for me to help her fly again the next day at six-thirty. I began my trek to the Fat Lady while Melinda continued climbing.

I told the portrait the password ("Whitelighters" – in honor of the new brand of magic) and entered to find a very noisy common room. It's always rather social in the common room the first week or so of classes because most people don't have much studying to do.

I went and sat next to Rose, who, naturally, had her nose buried in a book. Roxy, Lucy, James, and Chris were sitting in a circle at her feet, playing a strange card game.

"I win again," Chris said cheekily, showing the others his cards. Roxanne and Lucy raised their eyebrows at each other while James scratched his chin.

"I don't get it," he said, watching Chris pull a pile of Sickles and Knuts towards himself.

"It's just the rules of Texas Hold 'Em," said Chris, stuffing the money in his pockets.

"Chris," Wyatt's voice floated over. "Are you playing poker?"

Chris froze. "No…" He stood up quickly, muttered, "Let's go," to James, and the two hurried up to their dormitory.

I saw Wyatt turn to Fred and shake his head. "He likes to trick people who don't know how to play into betting with real money…"

"So Al."

I glanced down to see Roxy and Lucy grinning up at me in that annoying girl way. I narrowed my eyes. "What?" I asked suspiciously.

"We saw you and Melinda leaving the Great Hall together in the middle of dinner." Roxy wiggled her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes. "So?"

"What were you guys doing?" Roxy asked.

"I was teaching her how to fly," I replied. "Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Why'd she ask you?" asked Roxy. "You don't play Quidditch."

Lucy glared at our cousin. "Roxy."

"What!"

"I don't know why she asked me," I said truthfully. "I told her that I wasn't the Quidditch one but she didn't care. She said she just wanted to learn how to fly, which I can do."

"How was she?" Roxy asked. "Any good?"

"Not really," I replied sheepishly. "But then again, she's never been on a broom before."

Roxy shrugged. "Oh well. Even if she was, it's not like there are any spots on the team anyway."

"There's no way she can play Quidditch," I laughed. "She was five feet in the air and kept getting scared and falling."

Wyatt looked up. "Melinda's terrified of heights," he supplied. "I'm surprised that she even tried. She probably didn't realize that flying entailed being high up."

"Well, you know what they say…" Fred sang teasingly. "First comes flying, then comes marriage…"

Giggles erupted throughout the common room and I blushed fiercely. "Whatever." I stood up and stomped up to my room, cursing them all to oblivion.


	7. Chapter 7

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 7

**-Piper-**

The first week of classes went by exponentially slowly. I never really thought about how boring it must be for teachers to teach the same thing over and over and over and over again. There are seven years at Hogwarts and each lesson only has two Houses in it, which equates to fourteen lessons. It's different for other Hogwarts professors because they teach different material at each grade level. My sisters and I, however, are covering basics for the first couple of months so every single lesson is the same.

So we have to say the same things fourteen times.

It's maddening.

But also rather enjoyable. I never really thought that I would enjoy teaching but I guess it's the material that makes me like it. I like teaching the kids about our magic. It's something I'm so vastly knowledgeable about and they're all excited to learn about it.

Also, as far as I'm aware, the kids absolutely love it here. I haven't spoken much to them – despite teaching at their school, I rarely see them – but when I manage a quick word in after classes or during meals they're always glowing. It wasn't until these moments that I realized we did the right thing by bringing them here. I know that the kids, especially Melinda, love being surrounded by magic. They don't have to hide it and even though our magics are different, the children can relate to the students here in ways they never were able to relate to their friends at home.

On Friday morning, Neville Longbottom (he's head of the Gryffindor House and has been very helpful to my sisters and me, showing up at our cottages in Hogsmeade and asking us if we need anything) approached Phoebe, Paige, and I during breakfast.

"How are you ladies doing?" he asked pleasantly. "Good first week?"

"Long," we replied in unison.

"I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend," Phoebe said. "And exploring Hogsmeade."

Neville nodded. "Yes, it's always rather tiring at first." He glanced around and then back to us. "Can I have a quick word with you all?"

We exchanged glances. "Sure," I said.

Neville stood up and led us to a chamber off the Great Hall. It was empty and after Neville shut the door behind himself, he said, "Have you heard of Dumbledore's Army?"

"Nope," replied Paige. "What is it?"

"Dumbledore's Army was an underground anti-Voldemort society formed when I was in school," Neville explained. "It was founded in 1995 by Harry Potter and Ron and Hermione Weasley as a way for the students to rebel upon the Ministry, which was slowly being taken over by Voldemort. The adults had their organization, so we students decided to form our own. This society was imperative to us winning the Second Wizarding War, because during meetings we learned useful spells that aided us during the Final Battle. It was officially disbanded in 1998 following Voldemort's defeat."

Phoebe nodded. "Oh." She paused. "Why are you telling us this?"

"Well," Neville said, "In light of the recent news that demons are infiltrating our world, as well as your proclamations of something called The Source, Dumbledore's Army is having its first meeting in twenty-two years to discuss the course of action against these demons. Of course, you three are invited to attend the meeting – actually, you three will be the guests of honor. The DA needs to know everything that you know about demons and the evil in your world so that we can all figure out what is going on."

I blinked. "Wow. That's intense. A secret society to fight off evil? Don't you have a government for that?"

Neville nodded. "Well, yes, but the DA is more exclusive. As I said earlier, the Ministry became pretty corrupt during the War. Dumbledore's Army brings together the most trusted wizards and keeps its discoveries secret until it is deemed necessary to inform the public."

"That's pretty cool," Paige said. "And I like the name. When's the meeting?"

"It's tonight, at Harry Potter's house," said Neville. "I will be there as well as a few other professors and most of the Weasley family. However, I advise you not to mention it to anyone but your families, as not everyone is a part of the DA."

"Can our kids come?" I asked. "Or is it an adults-only thing?"

"The legal age in the Wizarding World is seventeen," Neville responded. "Of course, you could bring your children if they're younger then seventeen if you desire, but it's not recommended. They really won't be able to contribute much and it will likely only serve to frighten them."

I nodded. "Chris will be pissed that Wyatt gets to go and he doesn't, but he'll just have to live with it."

"Thanks for the information, Neville," Phoebe said. "We'll orb over there tonight."

**-Wyatt-**

I glanced up at the staff table during breakfast on Friday and saw that my mom and Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige were mysteriously not there. I glanced around a few times, fairly confused, until I saw them exiting a side door behind the table. I stared at them until my mom looked directly at me and waved me over.

"I'll be right back," I said to Molly and Fred and jogged over to their table.

"Want to go to a super secret meeting tonight?" Mom asked quietly as soon as I reached the table.

"A what?"

"It's secret, so keep quiet," she said, "but there's some anti-evil meeting going on tonight that we're going to and because you're of legal age you can come, too. Try not to tease Chris about it too much because he's too young."

I was still a little confused but I just said. "Okay. Who else will be there?"

"According to Professor Longbottom, many of the Weasleys will be there," she said, keeping her voice low. "And it's at Harry Potter's house. I'm sure there will be more, though, the Weasleys are just the only people we've met so far."

"Are Fred and Molly going?" I asked.

My mom shrugged. "Professor Longbottom said that seventeen is the legal age here, so maybe. You can ask them but don't mention it to anyone else."

"Why is this meeting so secret? What are we gonna do there?"

She clenched her jaw and I instantly knew that I had asked too many questions. "We'll tell you later," she said through her gritted teeth.

I nodded and hurried back over to the Gryffindor table, taking my seat between Molly and Fred.

"What was that about?" asked Molly.

I noticed other people looking at me, so I said, "Later."

Molly and I finished our breakfast quickly and stood up to go to our morning lesson early. Fred didn't have a lesson in the morning, but I still told him to come with us. He gave me a confused look but followed anyway.

"Do you guys know about some anti-evil meeting happening tonight?"

"Anti-evil?" Fred repeated.

"Are you talking about Dumbledore's Army?" Molly asked.

"I have no idea," I said. "All I know is that there's some anti-evil meeting tonight at Harry Potter's house."

Molly and Fred turned to each other and nodded. "Yes, that's the DA," said Molly. "We'll both be there since we're of age. The younger kids won't, though, and don't know about it."

"It would frighten them to hear that there's a meeting," said Fred, "since they know that the last time the DA was active, it was because of Voldemort."

"What does Dumbledore's Army do, exactly?"

"Try not to say it too loudly," Fred hushed. "It's very secret. It was originally an organization for students to rebel against the Ministry. Now, though, I guess it's to fight whatever demons are from your world."

"We don't really know much else," confessed Molly. "I guess we'll just see when we get there."

**-Chris-**

Wyatt really knows how to push my buttons.

He pulled me aside during morning break to tell me that he and our mom and aunts were going to some top-secret anti-evil meeting at Harry Potter's house and that I couldn't go because I wasn't the legal age. Oh, and since it's top-secret I can't tell anyone about it.

So basically life is completely unfair and I can't even complain to anyone about it.

I spent the rest of the day quietly moping until James asked me what was wrong on our way back to the Gryffindor Tower at the end of the day.

"Nothing," I grumbled.

"Do you get this pissy often?" he asked innocently. "Your time of the month?"

I glared at him. "No." I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was around before saying, "Apparently there's some secret organization meeting tonight at your parent's house. Pretty much my whole family is going except for me. I'm not supposed to tell anyone, though, so you can't say anything."

James looked confused. "A secret organization meeting at my house?" he repeated. After a moment, a look of sudden realization crossed his face. "I can't believe it! They're having a meeting and don't even tell me!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, perplexed.

"The damn DA is having a meeting and none of them told me," James scowled.

"Wyatt said the legal age is seventeen, though."

"It is. Still. They should have told me!"

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," I said, "Wyatt will tell me everything they talk about afterwards, and then I can tell you. But only if you promise not to tell anyone else. If word gets out, it'll be traced back to me."

"Promise!" declared James.

We reached the Fat Lady painting and gave her the password. Our lesson had gotten out forty-five minutes early so there weren't that many people in the common room – mostly only sixth and seventh years that didn't have any afternoon classes. Lucy and Roxanne had decided to enjoy the nice weather and study outside until dinner.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you," James started as we sat in two chairs near the window. "My mum warned me not to, because it's rude, but… what kind of powers _do_ you have?"

I grinned at him. "If I tell you, will you tell me about _yours_?"

James nodded earnestly.

So far, all anyone at Hogwarts had seen of my powers were when I used my telekinesis to throw a knife at a demon and orbing. Ever since then, I could tell that James had been bursting to ask me to show him more. This had been his first opportunity, though – every other time we were surrounded by our roommates, family members, or in class.

"I kind of have a lot," I said. "And I can't show you them all. You've seen me orb before. And remember when my Aunt Paige showed us how she can make an object disappear in blue lights and reappear in her hand? I can do that, too – it's called telekinetic orbing. I can also sense my family members, like where they are. When I'm older, I'll become a Whitelighter, like my dad was. When that happens, I'll be able to sense my charges, too."

"Isn't that what your aunt does, too?" James asked, completely awed.

I nodded. "I have all the powers that come along with Whitelighters, which you haven't learned about yet – like glamouring, cloaking, light manipulation, and omnilingualism."

James blinked. "Omni-what?"

I smirked. "It's the ability to speak and understand every language. Wyatt can do it, too, and Tamora and Kat can kind of. They haven't fully developed it yet. And Henry will be able to one day, also."

"Whoa," James said softly with wide eyes. "How come your sister isn't part Whitelighter, too? Do you guys, like, have different dads or something?"

I laughed. "No. My dad used to be a Whitelighter, but after I was born he clipped his wings and became mortal. Basically, he wanted a more normal life with my mom and Wyatt and me. He used to be able to orb and heal and everything, but not anymore. Since he was mortal before Melinda was born, she's full witch. But she's pretty damn powerful anyway."

James nodded. "So, the other powers… what do they do?"

"Glamouring changes my appearance, cloaking can make me unable to be sensed, and light manipulation means that I can create and capture light. And I can do electrokinesis, which is the power to project electricity."

"That's so cool," said James. "And you can do it all with your hands?"

I nodded. "It's pretty sweet. Now, your turn. What can you do?"

James took his wand out of his bag and twirled it in his fingers. "I can perform Stunning and Disarming spells quite well," he said. "But in order to show you, I'd have to injure you, so…"

"I'll just take your word for it, then," I said quickly.

"I can also cast a Patronus charm," he said, "which is used to ward off Dementors. They're not really around anymore, but my dad still taught me how to do it." He glanced around the sparse common room. "I can't show you, though, because it'll cause too much attention. It's really cool, though – a really bright ghost-type stag comes out of my wand and gallops around me."

"That _is_ cool," I said. "You'll have to show it to me one day."

At that moment, I glanced up and saw Wyatt and Molly entering the common room. I waved Wyatt over and the two approached us.

"I hope you two aren't doing anything to complicate my job as Head Girl," Molly said as soon as she reached us.

"Nah," said James. "Chris's just showing me his powers. Well, not even showing me. Just telling me."

"Have fun tonight," Wyatt smirked down at me. I narrowed my eyes.

"Can't wait to hear all about the top-secret meeting of anti-evilness," I said back and Molly quickly shh'd me.

"You can't go around saying that!" she hissed.

Wyatt glared. "I told you it was a secret."

"And Mom told you not to provoke me," I replied. "You know me better than to think I'm going to take your shit lying down."

"Wow, I can't believe you let it slip to me that the DA is having a meeting today," James said in an anything but believable way. "I guess you'll just have to tell me all about it."

"You told him?" Wyatt asked me.

"He's not going to tell anyone," I responded. "Besides, his dad's running the whole thing. I figured he would have found out about it eventually."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "That's the last time I'll ever tell you anything…" he mumbled, heading up the stairs to his dorm to deposit his bag.

"Bet it won't be!" I yelled after him.

**-Phoebe-**

Following dinner in The Great Hall, my sisters and I went back to our cottages in Hogsmeade to drop off our stuff and change clothes. We may be living in a world where the people wear strangely colored robes all the time, but, unless we're teaching, we don't wear them.

"So you're going to an anti-evil meeting?" Coop said as I changed into normal clothes.

I nodded. "Yeah. I think the meeting is for us to tell them what we know about The Source and demons and stuff."

"Are you going to bring the Book?"

I scoffed. "Of course not. We'll just tell them about our past experiences with The Source, I think. I just don't really know what else we can say, because The Source is obviously a different one than the ones we've defeated before, so there's not much we can report until we actually try to fight him."

Coop frowned and was silent for a moment before saying, "Are you planning on fighting him?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully as I pulled the clip out of my hair to let it down. "We haven't exactly talked about it yet. We're too busy trying to get into the routine of being professors. Maybe if there's another attack, but for now it's not a priority."

"Good." Coop smiled and stood up.

The door opened downstairs. "Are you ready?" Piper called.

"Coming!" I pecked my husband on the lips.

Coop and I trudged downstairs and I went into the next room to say good-bye to Patty and Penny, both of whom were playing with a magical dollhouse bought for them by the elder Molly Weasley. Afterwards, Paige, Piper, and I grabbed hands and orbed to Harry Potter's house.

We orbed into the main hallway and heard a rumble of voices from downstairs in the dining room. We followed the sound and entered the dining room, where about twenty or so people were seated and chatting. Wyatt was already there, with both Molly and Fred Weasley and a couple other students.

"Ah! You're here!" I heard Ginny Potter say and I turned to see her looking at us.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at us. There were a few familiar faces (all Weasleys, of course) but the rest of the people we had never seen before.

"Everyone, these are the Charmed Ones," Harry Potter said from his standing position at the head of the table. "Piper Halliwell, Phoebe Halliwell, and Paige Mitchell," he said, pointing to each of us in turn. "Ladies, these are most of the members of Dumbledore's Army."

He started rattling off names, many of which I'm sure I won't remember tomorrow: Katie and Lee Jordan, Lavender Gelson, Michael Corner, Dennis Creevey, Seamus Finnigan, Rolf and Luna Scamander, Ernie Macmillan and his son Gary, Padma Stretton, Parvati and Dean Thomas and their daughter Sarita, Alicia and Oliver Wood, Hannah and Neville Longbottom, Teddy Lupin, and then some Weasleys – not all, but Ron, Hermione, George, Angelina, Percy, Fleur, Victoire, and Dominique were there.

"It's nice to meet you all," Piper said.

"This isn't the full DA," Harry said. "Some people are too busy to come. This is the majority of it, though. Everyone here was a part of the DA during its founding period and they all fought in the Battle of Hogwarts – minus the students, of course."

"That's very commendable," I said, truly impressed.

Harry nodded. "It's great to see how far the DA has come. When we were in school, the official anti-Voldemort society was called The Order of the Phoenix, and the DA was simply a way to teach students defensive magic while the Ministry attempted to prevent such things. But now we are the official society."

The people around the room clapped proudly. Ginny bustled over to us with three cups of tea; she waved her wand and summoned three chairs, handing us our tea as we sat down.

"But that's enough about us," Harry said. "This meeting is really for us to learn more about you three."

"We don't know much aside from what _The Daily Prophet_ printed in its story about you," Neville added.

"You know, we've been hearing a lot about this newspaper article," Paige said, "but we haven't seen it yet. What did it say?"

Hermione bent down and searched through her bag. Finding the newspaper, she scanned through it quickly. "All it really says about you," she said, "is that you are a group of magical witches who don't need wands and fight evil creatures like warlocks and banshees." She was quiet as she continued to scan. "It also says that you are excellent potions masters and have invented many powerful ones."

"That's all it says?" I asked, surprised. "They didn't do much research."

"I think they based all their information on the potions that we have recorded from you three," Hermione explained. "For example, they mention you as fighting warlocks and banshees because there are potions in books published in our world that are to banish warlocks and banshees."

"What do you guys want to know?" Piper asked. "We would be here for days if we had to explain all eight years of our fights against evil."

"First and foremost, tell us about The Source."

**-Wyatt-**

It was hard to focus on my mom and aunts' story for two reasons.

One, because I've heard it a hundred times.

Two, because Dominique Weasley was sitting directly across the table from me, in between her older sister and her mother. I was finding it very hard to keep my eyes off of her. She had beautiful, strawberry blonde hair, a perfect, white complexion, stunning blue eyes…

"Are you even listening?" Molly hissed in my ear.

"I already know the story," I whispered back.

My mom was talking about The Source and what abilities he had when they fought him. They also talked about what kind of beings were usually The Source's right-hand-man, like the Seer. They mentioned the kind of potions they knew how to make that were very powerful and that my mom especially was very talented at creating potions. The entire thing took about thirty minutes and, when they were done, the DA members were all clearly impressed.

"So, I'm confused – you killed this Source thing, but he's back?" Lavender Gelson asked.

"Well, kind of," said Aunt Phoebe. "See, The Source is a position. Any high-power demon can claim the role of being The Source. It's difficult but not impossible. This is the first Source in a number of years."

"Do you know how to defeat it?" Lee Jordan inquired.

My mom and aunts exchanged glances. "We're not sure yet," Aunt Paige admitted. "But that's because we don't know what kind of demon The Source is and what kind of abilities it has. We have a spell that we've used previously to vanquish The Source, but we are not in a position to guarantee that that spell will work on whoever The Source is now. We are, however, capable of creating potions to vanquish almost anything."

"Our main worry," continued my mom, "is the fact that The Source is probably working together with some wand-wizards. We don't really know how much that is affecting The Source's powers."

"How will you figure it out?" asked Alicia Wood.

"Experience," said Aunt Phoebe simply. "We'll have to go up against him."

"How will you find him?" Percy asked.

"Usually he comes to us," said Aunt Paige.

"So our children –" began Ernie Macmillan.

"I wouldn't worry about the children," said Mom. "The Source will want us, not them. He'll come to us specifically."

"We can protect the school," I piped up. Everyone turned to look at me, including Dominique. I blushed. "I mean, my mom and aunts are the most powerful witches in the world. And I'm pretty good in battle too – same with my brother Chris and my sister Melinda. We can protect everyone. That's why you guys brought us there, isn't it?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, it is. Neville and Oliver both told us about the demons that showed up during the opening feast – you guys defeated how many demons in fifteen seconds?"

"Four," I boasted.

"Demons are fairly easy to vanquish," Aunt Phoebe added. "Especially with all of us around. And I know that you guys can do binding spells or something, so I'm sure those will work on demons, too."

"Stunning spells, too, and Disarming," Neville said.

"So then what is our plan of action?" Michael Corner asked. "What do we do now? We know that there's this evil thing out there…"

"Honestly, there's not much you can do right now," Aunt Paige said. "We just don't really know anything yet. We don't know what The Source wants or who he is; we don't know how many, if any, wizards are on his side. We're really just in the dark as of now."

"I would just keep your eyes and ears out for anything suspicious," Aunt Phoebe continued. "If you think anyone is acting suspicious, let us know. If you hear anything strange, tell us. When it comes to The Source, we're the only ones that can really do anything."

At that moment, I heard the familiar sound of orbing from above us. My mom and aunts heard it, too, and we all looked at each other.

"What was that?" asked Aunt Phoebe at the same time that somebody yelled, "Mom!"

"Chris!" Mom shouted, standing up so quickly that her chair crashed to the ground.

My younger brother thundered down the stairs into the dining room, looking frantic. "There are demons at Hogwarts. You have to come now!"

"Chris –" Mom started, but Chris was already orbing out.

As was I – I began orbing out as I stood up and seconds later I was in the entrance hall.

There were three demons standing atop the main staircase. There weren't many students around – probably twenty – but it was enough to cause chaos. Melinda and Chris were there, and I also recognized Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Rose Weasley, and James Potter on the scene. Melinda had managed to freeze one of the demon's arms and I saw her wave her arm and send him crashing into the wall.

My mom and aunts had orbed in seconds after me. Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige immediately began rounding up students to get them out of the entrance hall while Mom started to assist in the battle.

She waved her hands in an attempt to blow up one of the demons but it only caused him to stumble. "They're higher-lever demons," she said to me, "which means they're probably more aware of what The Source wants."

"So what should we do?"

"Freeze and interrogate them," she said. She turned back to my aunts and said, "Get them _all_ out of here."

The two of them nodded and started ushering the students out.

"But I want to fight!" I heard James Potter protest.

The same demon that Melinda had thrown into the wall threw an energy ball at her. My mom screamed her name and I began to run forward, but Melinda simply held up her hand and deflected it back toward him. The ball hit him and he vanished.

I was shocked – I hadn't realized Melinda was in such control of her powers.

Piper waved her hands and froze both demons. "Melinda!" she cried, also stunned.

Melinda smirked. "I do a lot of practicing when you're not around."

Mom and I jogged up the stairs to where Chris and Melinda stood near the two remaining frozen demons. I looked over my shoulder to the now empty entrance hall, though I spied Rose, James, Scorpius, and Albus peeking around the corner.

"We're going to interrogate them," Mom explained to Chris and Melinda. "I'll unfreeze their heads – Wyatt, I want you to be ready with an energy ball. Chris and Melinda, be ready to slam them into the wall if they unfreeze. Okay?"

We all nodded; I obediently conjured up an energy ball. Mom waved both of her hands and unfreezed the demons' heads.

The demons' heads jerked and they glanced down at their bodies, snarling. "Unfreeze us," one demanded.

"That never works," Mom said. It always awed me to see her battle demons because of how good at it she was. "We want you two to answer some questions for us."

"Never," the other spat.

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? Well, we could always blast your arm…" she trailed off, glancing at me. "Wyatt?"

I raised my hand back, as if to strike, but the demon still said nothing. "Wyatt," my mom said again. I glanced at her, unsure, and she nodded. I threw the energy ball at the demon's arm and it shattered. The demon screamed terribly and someone gasped.

Mom glanced over her shoulder and noticed the four heads peeking, with Rose's hand over her mouth. "Phoebe, Paige, shut the door!" she growled.

"Come back in here!" I heard Aunt Phoebe say, and the four heads disappeared and the door closed.

"Melinda, keep watch the hallway," Mom said. "Make sure no one comes in here." Melinda nodded and jogged off.

"Now, I'm going to ask you one more time," she said. "What do you guys want?"

"We're not saying anything," the demon with all his limbs said menacingly.

"I can blow up your arm, too," Mom snapped. "I have no problem doing it." She raised her hands, but the other demon cried, "Wait!"

Mom froze and glanced over at the demon. "What?"

"We were sent by The Source," he said, breathing deeply and sweating due to his pain.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Well, we know _that._"

"He wants to take over this world," said the demon. "He has spies here… he wants to take control of their government."

"Why does he want to take it over?" asked Chris.

"If he can get wand magic behind him, he will be unstoppable," said the second demon. "He'll finally be able to destroy you all."

"So then why does he keep sending demons to the school?" asked Wyatt.

"To shut it down," said the first demon. "If the school is shut down, it will be harder for you three to protect this world."

Mom looked down at Chris and me thoughtfully. Before we could ask any more questions, though, the demons both erupted into flames and started screaming – seconds later, they were gone.

"Shit," said Mom.

"The Source?" asked Chris.

Mom nodded.

"Mom, people are coming!" shouted Melinda. Mom and I approached her and saw Harry Potter, Oliver Wood, Neville Longbottom, and Teddy Lupin.

"It's okay, Melinda," said Mom. "Go and tell Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige that the kids can go back to their rooms now."

**-Melinda-**

While Mom stayed behind to tell the adults what had happened, Chris and I jogged down the stairs and opened the huge doors into The Great Hall. Aunts Phoebe and Paige had taken all the students that had been around when the demons attacked to sit around one of the middle tables.

"You guys can go back now," Chris announced and everyone looked up.

"Is it safe?" asked a third-year Slytherin.

I nodded. "Safe and sound!"

Slowly, students stood up and began to file out of The Great Hall. Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige came up to Chris and me and asked, "So what happened?"

"Before The Source killed them, the demons told us that The Source wants to take over this world," Chris explained quietly, so not other students could hear him. "He has spies in the Ministry and he keeps sending demons here because he wants the school to be closed down."

I gasped. "Why?"

"He says it will be harder for us to protect them if there's no school," Chris said.

"We have to start protecting the campus," Aunt Phoebe said.

"How are you going to do that?" came a female voice. We glanced around and saw that Rose, Scorpius, Albus, and James had hung back while everyone else left.

"We can write a spell," Aunt Phoebe explained. "My sisters and I are good at that – we can write a spell to prevent demons from being able to shimmer inside the grounds."

"Will it work?" Rose asked, looking extremely worried.

"Of course!" Aunt Paige said cheerfully. "Don't you worry. We know exactly what to do!"

"Let's get you guys back to your dorms now," said Aunt Phoebe, ushering us all out of the Great Hall. In the entrance hall, at the foot of the stairs, Mom stood, talking, with Mr. Potter, Professor Longbottom, Coach Wood, Professor Ulvaeous, Professor Flitwick, and Teddy Lupin.

"I've just sent the word that the castle is safe," Harry Potter was saying as we approached, slipping something into his pocket. "The rest of the kids will be here soon."

"So, what were you saying about an enchantment?" asked Coach Wood.

"My sisters and I can write a spell," Mom explained, just as Aunt Phoebe had, "that will prevent demons from being able to transport themselves magically onto this campus. It may take a couple of days, because this castle is extremely large and we'll need to come up with a spell and potion strong enough, but we can do it."

"We should probably check and make sure all the students are in their Houses," Professor Ulvaeous said to Professor Flitwick, who nodded in agreement. The two of them, along with Professor Longbottom, departed from the group and headed up the stairs.

"We'll have to have another meeting tomorrow night," Harry said to his colleagues. "Because of this new information."

"Can it wait, actually?" suggested Aunt Paige. "It's just – tonight was quite a scare. I don't think my sisters and I will feel comfortable all leaving the castle before we protect it."

"She's right," said Aunt Phoebe. "We'll let you know when the spell is cast and then we can hold another meeting."

Teddy nodded. "That's a good idea. That'll make everyone else feel safe."

"Uncle Harry?"

We all looked around to where Rose stood, her face white, with her cousins and Scorpius.

"Rose?" Harry's eyes darted around. "James? Al? What are you all doing here?"

"We were here when the demons attacked," said Rose in a small voice. She swallowed and then asked, "Are they… are they going to come again?"

"No, we promise," Mom said firmly before Harry could respond. She walked over to Rose and bent over, putting her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "Don't worry; we're going to protect you. And not just Professors Halliwell and Mitchell and me – you can also count on Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, Tamora, Kat, Prue, and Henry to be watching out for you. That's why we're here. I promise, you have nothing to be afraid of."

Rose nodded meekly.

"Where's Hugo? And Lily and the rest of the kids?" Harry asked.

"They're all in Gryffindor Tower," said James. "None of them know what's happened, I don't think."

"Why don't you all go to bed, then," Harry said. "It's been an eventful day. Sarita, Gary, Molly, and Fred should all be back in Gryffindor Tower by now."

**-Scorpius-**

No one said much as we ascended the stairs of the castle towards our dorms. When I had gone down to the Great Hall for a late evening snack, I had not expected any of this to happen. I had gone with Melinda and the two of us sat with James, Chris, Al, and Rose, mainly because I wanted to annoy Rose, but it became amusing when I spied how bashfully shy Al was around Melinda. Chris and James were talking quietly to each other, so I spent my time poking Rose and watching Al and Melinda.

There were students wandering around in the entrance hall and it was because of that that we heard right when the demons arrived. People started screaming and we heard an explosion. Chris and Melinda were up and had sprinted off before the rest of us really even had a chance to react. By the time Rose, Al, James, and I had followed, Chris was shouting at everyone to get down and get out. Students were screaming and bending down, attempting to crawl out of the room. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to stay and watch, but I knew it wasn't safe.

Then we got to see their powers – Chris orbed over to the demons and fired energy balls at them, although it didn't really work. Melinda was unable to freeze the demons but she was able to telekinetically move their energy balls away from her. After about thirty seconds, Chris told her he had to go get their mom and he orbed out. I have never been more impressed with a battle before – Melinda single-handedly was able to deflect all energy balls thrown at her by the demons. She wasn't trying to defeat them, just to hold them off herself and the rest of the students around.

Half a minute later, Chris and Wyatt had arrived within a second of each other, followed shortly by the professors. Unfortunately, that was when Professors Halliwell and Mitchell ushered us out. We were able to catch of peek of Wyatt, Chris, and Professor Halliwell interrogating the demons, which was a mistake because it freaked out Rose when Wyatt blew off the demon's arm.

I thought it was pretty cool.

Still, Rose was pretty freaked out and she hung to the back of the group as we walked up the stairs. When it came time for the Gryffindors to get off on their floor and for Melinda and me to keep climbing, I stopped and turned to her. "Are you okay?"

Rose turned to me and blinked. "What?"

"You seem kinda upset," I said. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

Rose continued to stare. "You want to help me?"

Her blank voice caused me to roll my eyes in annoyance. "You know what, never mind. I'll see you later." I began to climb the stairs after Melinda, but Rose's voice stopped me.

"Wait!" I turned back around. "I'm sorry. I was just… surprised. Sorry." She was silent for a moment. "I'm okay, though. Thanks. I think I'm just going to go to sleep." She was quiet again for so long that I started to walk back up the stairs again, but then she said, "I'll probably be by the lake tomorrow morning, though."

She didn't say anything more, like extend an invitation or anything, but I didn't mind. I smiled down at her. "I might be there, too."


	8. Chapter 8

_Harry Potter and the Charmed Ones_

Chapter 8

**-Chris-**

Following the very long and eventful first week, I slept in until noon on Saturday. In fact, I was sleeping so deeply that I vaguely remembered James trying to push me out of bed before finally forgetting about me and leaving. By the time I deemed myself rested enough, I woke up to find my dorm room empty. When I realized how sunny and nice it looked outside, I was not surprised to find the common room nearly empty as well.

I decided to go to the Great Hall to get some lunch before going onto the grounds and looking for James or Wyatt or Melinda and lying out to absorb some of the last heat of the year. James kept telling me how miserable England was in the winter, which seemed to last for ten months out of the year, so I knew I had to enjoy the warm weather while it lasted.

The hallways were all extremely deserted as I walked through them. My footsteps echoed with every step I took; I seemed to be the only one around for probably miles. Also, I still didn't know the castle very well and as this morning was the first time I tried to get from the Gryffindor Tower to the Great Hall alone, I found myself lost.

I sighed as I wandered aimlessly. At least I didn't really have anywhere to be. I wasn't sure what floor I was on or even what side of the castle I had ventured to, so I had absolutely no idea where to turn next.

Finally, I heard a noise that was not caused by me. It was far, so I wasn't exactly sure what it was, but I sped up my pace to try and locate the source. Hopefully it will be someone who can tell me exactly where I am.

After about fifteen seconds of me trying to power-walk towards the source of the noise, I heard a loud explosion and then a female scream. My blood ran cold, my heart started pumping, and I began to sprint. Oh shit, a demon got in… and it's attacking a girl… I prayed that I would get there on time…

I turned the corner to another hallway just in time to see a girl, who was probably around my age, throwing an energy ball at a demon. The demon screamed in agony and vanished seconds later.

I stared, my mouth agape, at the scene before me. All I could think was: what the hell…?

"Hey!" I shouted at the girl, who whipped her head around to face me.

She quickly conjured up an energy ball and threw it at me. I waved my arm so that the energy ball was deflected and hit the wall instead. The girl then turned to sprint away from me.

"Wait!" I shouted. She didn't stop so I orbed to the other side of the hall, directly in front of her. "Who are you?" I asked, grabbing her shoulders.

What I was not expecting was for her to kick me in the shins to get me to release her. I doubled over in pain and she turned around again to run away. I raised my hands quickly and waved them, sending her flying into the wall and hitting her head. She crumpled to the ground and lay still, unmoving.

It took me a moment to regain the feeling in my legs, and once I did so, I glanced up at the unconscious girl and mumbled, "Shit."

I approached her and turned her over. She was very beautiful, I noticed. She had dark skin and dark brown hair, which was fanned around her head. I stared at her for a little too long, admiring her facial features, before blushing and pushing the thoughts from my mind. I held up my hands in an attempt to heal her but, of course, it didn't work – unlike Wyatt, I was not born with the power to heal and it is the one power that I have yet to develop. Instead, I put my hands on the shoulders of the girl and shook her lightly. "Wake up," I said. "Come on, wake up!"

Starting to worry, I glanced over my shoulder, hoping that someone would turn around the corner. When I looked back to the girl, I saw her eyes open.

Immediately, I grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head whilst straddling her. "Who are you?" I demanded.

The girl tried to squirm from beneath me but I was too heavy. After a moment of trying, she gave up, breathing deeply. "Let me go."

"I just helped you wake up," I said, "so you owe it to me to tell me who you are."

She glared at me. "You're also the reason I hit my head."

"Never mind that," I said. "Who are you? Are you a demon?"

"No," she said.

"So then you're a witch?" I asked.

She paused before nodding.

"How come you can create energy balls, then? I'm pretty sure there's only one witch that can conjure energy balls."

"I'm not the same kind of witch you are," she said.

"Huh?"

"I don't fight evil and protect Innocents, like your family," she growled.

I narrowed my eyes. "How do you know who I am? And, for that matter, I just saw you killing a demon, so how do you not fight evil?"

"Everyone knows who you are," she said. "Chris Halliwell, second son of a Charmed One."

"Oh," I said stupidly.

"Now, let me go!" she snapped.

"Wait! You still haven't told me what you are," I said.

She, however, was sick of waiting. She kneed me in the back to get me to let go of her hands, then threw me off of her. Just as I was scrambling back to my feet, she turned and shimmered out of the castle.

I rubbed my hand over my back, where I was sure a bruise was soon to form. What in the _hell_ was going on? I still did not know what she was – she can't be a witch because she shimmered, but she can't be a demon because she just killed one.

I gave up trying to find my way outside and just started walking as I pondered over what had just happened. I wanted to check the Book of Shadows to see what she was, but, at the same time, I didn't really want to tell my mom about the incident.

After a while, I found myself at a familiar set of stairs and finally realized that I was on the third floor. I wasn't particularly interested in lying out in the sun anymore, but I figured Wyatt was outside and it was he who I was looking for now.

I wandered outside and saw what was probably the entire student body lying out on the grass, under trees, by the lake, or in the courtyard. I meandered around outside for a while until I found Wyatt sitting with Molly, Fred, Sarita, Gary, and Jessica underneath a tree. They had their textbooks out and seemed to be studying for a test.

I approached the group and said, "Hey, Wyatt. Can I talk to you?"

Wyatt glances up, holding his hand above his eyebrows to shield from the sun. "Sure. What's up?"

My eyes roved over the other five faces staring up at me. "Um… in private?"

"Oh." Wyatt glanced at Molly before setting down his textbook and standing up. "Sure." I led him to a tree a little ways away, so that we weren't around anyone that could overhear us. We sat in the shade and he asked me, "So what's going on? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just had a question for you," I said. "But first you have to promise you won't tell Mom."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Okay…"

"Okay. So, I met this girl today…"

Smirking, Wyatt bopped me on the shoulder. "Oh, so that was this is about! Who is she? What year is she? Is she in Gryffindor? What's her name? It's not Lucy, is it? Molly told me that Lucy said she thought you were staring at her once –"

"No, no!" I said quickly, causing Wyatt to stop talking. "It's not like that – and Lucy really said that? I wasn't staring at her – she was sitting in front of that magical chess game and I was staring at _that_."

"Really?" said Wyatt thoughtfully. "I'll pass along the message… wouldn't want Lucy to forever think you were a creep."

I rolled my eyes, "_Anyway_," I said, "I was wandering around the castle today because I got lost when walking from the Gryffindor Tower to the Great Hall. I think I was somewhere on the third floor when I heard an attack."

"Like a demon attack?" said Wyatt sharply.

I nodded. "And I heard this girl scream, so I went running to go help, but when I got there, I saw this girl throw an energy ball at a demon and kill him!"

"She was a demon? What did she look like?"

"She wasn't, though," I said. "At least, I don't think. I managed to get her still so I could interrogate her – after accidently knocking her out – and she told me that she's a witch."

"A witch?" Wyatt mused. "You met another witch? Like, a witch like us?"

"I don't know," I said. "She said she was a witch and she vanquished a demon, but I saw her throw an energy ball, and I thought only you could do that. Also, when she left, she shimmered!"

Wyatt's eyes snapped up. "She shimmered? Well, then there's no doubt about it – she's a demon."

"But she said she was a witch," I protested, "_and_ I saw her killing a demon!"

"So?" Wyatt challenged. "She can say whatever the hell she wants, but you don't have to believe her. You can't be so naïve as to think that everyone magical creature that says they're a witch is. Any old demon can say they're a witch."

"She didn't look like a demon, though," I snapped. "It wasn't like this guy with red skin and horns told me he was a witch – she looked normal."

"Demons can look normal, Chris," said Wyatt impatiently. "I feel like I'm talking to a mortal here. Shimmering is a demon only power. She shimmered, so she's a demon."

"But then why was she killing a demon?" I questioned.

"Maybe he pissed her off?" Wyatt said. "I don't know – but demons are evil, so you know that they kill each other as well as Innocents."

I frowned. It still didn't make sense. "But… she knew who I was. She knew my name and about Mom and everything. And she didn't even care about killing me or anything about the school. It's like she didn't even know where she _was_. If she was really a demon, wouldn't she have attacked me?"

"Not necessarily," Wyatt said. "Not all demons are part of the Source's entourage. You're right, she probably didn't even realize where she was, but that doesn't mean that she's not a demon. What likely happened is she was in the Underworld and some demon pissed her off, he shimmered here, she followed, she killed him, and then she left. That's all there is to it. And she's a smart demon, so she lied and told you she was a witch so that you wouldn't vanquish her. Luckily for her it wasn't me who found her, because I wouldn't have believed her. But you, Chrissy, are just so gullible."

I scowled. What Wyatt said made sense but for some reason it was just too hard for me to believe it. I knew there was more to that girl than she let on. However, I knew better than to argue with Wyatt. When he thought he was right, he didn't relent.

"It's okay, little bro," he continued. "I know it sucks finding out a cute girl is really a demon, but it happens to the best of us."

**-Paige-**

All I wanted to do over the weekend was relax and explore Hogsmeade, but unfortunately my sisters and I were stuck creating a spell to protect Hogwarts. And so, we were found on the back porch of Piper's and my cottage Saturday morning, discussing how to do it.

"There aren't any protection spells in the Book, are there?" I asked.

"There's one, I think," said Phoebe. "I don't know if it works, though. It would probably be safest if we write one ourselves."

"You know what else I think we should do?" Piper added. "We should have the kids say it with us when we cast it for extra power. And also, like our old Source vanquishing spell, we can call upon our ancestors. We have to make sure that this spell works, so we need to pull out all the stops."

Phoebe nodded. "I can get to work on writing the spell."

"And I'll make the potion," said Piper. "Paige, can you get the incense sticks and the cauldron and everything else?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "And then I can help Phoebe with the spell."

It took nearly all day to complete the spell and for Piper to brew an appropriate potion. We were exhausted, but we still weren't done. We had to gather all the children (which took over an hour, simply because we had to somehow locate Wyatt, Chris, Melinda, Tamora, Kat, Prue, and Henry inside the huge castle and they all conveniently were not together) before orbing to the front gates of the grounds to Hogwarts.

We still had a bit of preparation to do. Piper set the brewed potion on a large rock and let the steam spill over and onto the gravel road. The three of us sat around the potion in a triangle while our nine children stood a ways away from us. To make the potion stronger, the three of us had to prick our fingers and squeeze a bit of blood into the potion. Within seconds after doing so, the steam started to turn red.

"Alright kids," Piper said, standing up.

Phoebe took the spell out of her pocket and bet down so that the kids could read it. "Repeat after me," she said:

"_Prudence, Penelope,_

_Patricia, Melinda,_

_Astrid, Helena,_

_Laura, Brianna._

_Halliwell witches,_

_From now 'till medieval,_

_Protect this castle,_

_From the wicked and evil._"

The twelve of us chanted the song in unison and, as soon as we finished, a loud explosion rang from the cauldron. We jumped and glanced over to see a strange mist erupt from the cauldron and fly over the grounds in every direction. Within seconds, it disappeared.

"So, did it work?" asked Brianna.

Piper walked over to the cauldron and peeked inside. The potion had stopped emitting steam and the liquid inside sat still. "I think so," she said. "Something happened, at least."

"Good work everyone!" commended Phoebe. "Looks like we have successfully protected this castle from demons and the like. A job well done!"

"Can we go inside, now?" asked Melinda, her hands jammed in her coat pockets. "It's freezing!"

It was rather cold out. "Alright, let's go."

Melinda, Tamora, Kat, Prue, and Henry immediately latched onto either Chris or Wyatt to be orbed back into the warm castle.

"Mommy, I want to go to Hogwarts," Patty pouted to Phoebe as she grabbed my hand for me to orb her.

"Yeah, can we, can we?" Penny begged.

"In a couple years," Phoebe said soothingly as we orbed out.

**-Phoebe-**

The night after we blessed the castle, we found ourselves back at the Harry Potter house with the DA. Some people that we had met earlier were not there, but for the most part it was the same group of people.

"As you may have guessed by having this meeting called," Harry said, "the Charmed Ones were able to cast a spell to protect the castle from evil creatures."

"What did you do?" Percy Weasley asked.

"Spell and potion," said Paige. "Pretty standard. We wrote the spell to protect the castle from evil, so that will include demons, warlocks, and everything in between. Nothing evil will able to blink or shimmer inside the grounds anymore."

"Now," Harry began, "while the attack on the school on Friday night was rather frightening, we were able to get some answers from the demons as to what they are doing and what they want."

"You did?" Anthony Goldstein said as he and the others all sat up straighter. "How?

Harry nodded to my sisters and me. "The Charmed Ones interrogated the demons and were able to get some answers."

"What did they say?" asked Dennis Creevey.

"That one of the Source's main goals right now is to shut down the school," Piper explained. The occupants of Harry's dining room immediately began twittering.

"Why would he want to do that?" asked Lavender Gelson.

"And what are we going to do about it?" Padma Stretton added.

"So the school isn't safe then, is it?" inquired Alicia Wood.

"The Charmed Ones know the Source better than us all," interrupted Hermione, "but I think I have answers about his intentions. Hogwarts is one of the focal points of the magical community. Yes, there are other magic schools, but Hogwarts is one of, if not the most, prestigious. Hogwarts, along with the Ministry, are the two institutions that act as central points for our world. And since Hogwarts is home to the children of our world, it is more vulnerable than the Ministry. If either of them is in danger of being shut down, it would be Hogwarts, because parents would sooner worry about their children's wellbeing, especially when still in school."

Paige nodded. "That sounds about right to me. But also, with the school open, my sisters and I can protect the school. If the school closes, we can't protect the kids, and the Source knows this."

"To answer your other questions," I added, "My sisters and I, along with our children, cast a very powerful spell over the school so that no demons can magically transport themselves into the school. So the school is now safe."

"If the Ministry is in as much danger as Hogwarts," Parvati Thomas said, "then what should we do to protect it?"

My sisters and I glanced at one another. "Another thing the demons said," Piper stated, "is that the Source has spies in the Ministry. There's not really much that we can do with spies, because they are wand wizards. That's something that you guys will have to deal with."

Ron Weasley nodded. "We all know who the Voldemort sympathizers were. All the Death Eaters from Voldemort's time are in Azkaban, but there are still those who were friends with Death Eaters or sympathized with them that we can keep an eye on."

"Our biggest priority," Ginny Potter added, "is to make sure that the Ministry is not corrupted like it was twenty-three years ago. The DA has a lot of power in the Ministry and we must make sure that no one with ill intentions is able to take over."

Harry nodded at his wife. "Ginny's right. No Muggle-born hunts or Muggle killing, no Dementors _ever_, no Dark Arts in Hogwarts… none of that."

"That's all we can really do with the Ministry right now," Percy Weasley said. "But I think with all of us there, we can keep things under control."

"Most people's main worry right now is Hogwarts," Neville Longbottom said. "Obviously news of the two demon attacks have gotten out and I have received numerous owls from concerned parents about the safety of their children."

"Have any kids been pulled out of school?" asked Harry.

Neville shook his head. "Not from Gryffindor, and I'm pretty sure that none in the other Houses either. I think it would have been brought up – because usually once the first child is taken out, more follow quickly."

"Why would parents taken their kids out of school?" Piper asked incredulously. "The kids are safest there!"

"Not everyone sees it that way," replied Neville. "To a parent, they see the arrival of your family before the arrival of demons, and their first instinct is to remove their child from where the danger is occurring. Instead of seeing that you sisters are defeating these demons, they just see that demons are there."

I shook my head. "That's not good… we can't let parents take their kids out of school. They are so much safer with us there."

Neville shrugged. "We can't force students to stay here. If their parents want them out, they're out."

"I have a question," Michael Corner spoke up. "What is your next step past blessing the castle?"

I looked at Piper and Paige and frowned. "We don't know yet," I admitted. "In order to really know what we're going up against with the Source, we have to fight him, which is a huge risk."

"We're certain that He's not strong enough to defeat us yet, or else He could have already come to us personally," Piper said. "But all of these demon attacks could just be his way of luring us into a trap, which is a risk that we aren't willing to take. We can fight his demons no problem, but if he lures us into the Underworld and somehow traps us, then nothing is safe."

"And beyond that, we don't know where the Source is or how to find him," Paige continued. "Whitelighters cannot orb into the Underworld – the same way that demons cannot shimmer up to the Elders. So we would have to find a spell that could transport us into the Underworld. And even if we did that, the Underworld is huge. We wouldn't know exactly where he is, and he's likely to be very guarded."

"So basically, we can't do anything unless the Source comes to us," I finished. "And that won't be happening any time soon, because he can't defeat us and he can't get to us while we're at Hogwarts."

The others around the dining room table nodded. "So we should just keep our eyes out in the Ministry for now?" Luna Scamander said airily. "Seems easy enough."

Harry nodded. "I think we'll wait to hold another meeting until something new comes up. We know what we have to do for now."

Minutes later the meeting was adjourned, and Harry pulled my sisters and me aside. "I didn't want to ask this in front of everyone, but – you're sure that the spell you cast on the castle worked, right?"

"We're very sure," Piper said. "Of course, there's no way to test it, but if we go months without a demon attack we'll know we did something right. And our history with spells is pretty good, too."

Harry nodded. "Good. I trust you three."

"Now I have a question," I said, voicing something that has been bothering me the last few minutes. "Is there any way that we can be notified if a child is going to be taken out of Hogwarts? So we can talk to the parents and convince them they're being stupid?"

Harry chuckled. "You should talk to Neville about that. But I don't know – if a parent wants to take his or her child out of school, there may not be much that any of you could say that could change his or her mind."

"It's worth a shot," Paige said. "We're here to protect every single kid there. That means we have to try if parents are trying to take their kids away."

Harry nodded. "I understand. Talk to Neville, or Professor Flitwick or Professor Ulvaeous."

"We will." I nodded. "Thank you, Harry."


End file.
